VOTE: Why Women Must Vote This Election Season From the Perspective of Leading Policy Professor Rollie Lal
“Voting is your loudest voice. Voting is your chance to say where you want this country to be in the future.” The 2020 Election is Here! It has been 100 years since women achieved the right to vote in the U.S. Yet in the 2016 election, only 63% of women sent in their ballots.
Today’s woman dreamer, Rollie Lal, is an Associate Professor at George Washington University in Washington D.C. and she brings her expert opinion to why women must vote in today’s election. Enjoy her powerful insights! And don’t forget to vote!
“American women need to make change where it counts for us. We need to vote.”
It has been 100 years since we women achieved the right to vote in this country, and yet there are many issues that are critical to the success of women still pending. Childcare, education, health care, and even the climate are just a few of the issues that unify female voters across party lines. Despite the importance of these issues to women in America today, only 63% of women turned out to vote in 2016. This Election Day, American women need to make change where it counts for us. We need to vote.
An astounding 7 out of 10 voters agree that Congress should increase childcare funding. Lack of sufficient childcare is a real challenge for women, creating barriers for women trying to excel in their careers and in politics. The pandemic has brought all of this even closer to home. Women have done the heavy lifting while quarantined, making sure children access online education and are fed while simultaneously trying to take Zoom calls with the office. When left with the choice of one parent staying home to watch the kids, women are most often the ones taking the pay cut. In September alone, 865,000 women left the US workforce, compared to only 216,000 men.
In contrast, other countries like Sweden and Denmark provide subsidized childcare. Even in Korea and Hungary, parents spend less than 4% of their income on childcare. Women in the US need support too, and the best way to win that support is to vote.
Women are more concerned with having health care that can protect their family during a pandemic. Care for the sick and elderly falls disproportionately on women's shoulders. According to the CDC, two out of three caregivers in the US are women, adding to their existing responsibilities. And yet, while health insurance during COVID is clearly a priority, it has paradoxically become scarce. Last year half of Americans received health insurance through their workplace. The vast number of layoffs has meant that about 12 million Americans have lost their health coverage in the middle of a pandemic.
Outside of the home, the wildfires, hurricanes, and floods that are plaguing the US are a threat to family security. The situation has become so critical that the League of Women Voters has passed climate emergency declarations in many states.
“Data shows that women vote for other women more than men do. This means that the key path to female representation is female voting.”
Despite these calls to action, women remain painfully voiceless throughout America. Currently, women comprise only 23.2 percent of the House of Representatives and 26 percent of the Senate. But data shows that women vote for other women more than men do. This means that the key path to female representation is female voting.
Above all, voting is the basis for effective democracy. Our country is made of people of many ethnicities, religions, and values. We expect our democratic government to reflect all of our color and diversity, including us, women. The only way that this can be done effectively is by voting. Voting is your chance to say where you want this country to be in the future. It is your chance to say what your country will represent. It is the ability to shape the future for your children. It is your loudest voice. Your voice counts. Vote.
Rollie Lal is an Associate Professor at the Elliott School of International Affairs at George Washington University where she teaches graduate courses on Transnational Security, Foreign Policy, and International Political Economy. Her research focuses on organized crime, terrorism, and religious extremism. Previously she was an Associate Professor at the U.S. Department of Defense and a political scientist at RAND. Dr. Lal received her Ph.D. in International Relations and her M.A. in Strategic Studies from The Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies.