Voting Rights

WomenMatter will continuously post updates on all this and other issues as we monitor the continuing philosophical and practical debates nationwide. Please check back often for updates. Past updates are available for reference on the Voting Rights Archives page.

Women and the Vote: WomenMatter Travels to the New Hampshire Primary

Why isn’t the media discussing how gender relates to the 2004 presidential primaries?

Unlike traditional media, WomenMatter is talking about how women affect the vote.

We held a nonpartisan open meeting in New Hampshire the night before the primary so that women could talk to us and to each other about the issues that matter to them.

The New Hampshire meeting was just the beginning. We’re going to South Carolina, Michigan, and California next, facilitating discussions among women before the primaries in those key states.

Who was in New Hampshire

Professor Nancy Bauer, founder and CEO of WomenMatter highlighted the fact that we women manage and advocate and make health care, schooling, environmental, and safety decisions for ourselves and our families and our communities every day. She asked each woman to think about how the system showed up in her life that very week.

We then provided a panel of ten distinguished providers of those services to exchange with the audience what a difference government can make as it sets standards and uses our tax dollars.

The discussants for New Hampshire women to interact with and question:

Terie Norelli, a Congresswoman from Portsmouth New Hampshire; Marianne Jones, executive director of the Women’s Fund of New Hampshire; Dr. Cynthia Cooper, Gynecologist and President of the State Board of Health, Johanna Booth-Miner, director of Live and Learn Early Learning center in Lee, N.H.; Ellen Ratner, Bureau Chief of Talk Radio News Service and Fox News analyst; Blanquita Cullum, host of News Beat with Blanquita Cullum; Carole Marks, host of A Touch of Gray and CEO of Focus Communications; and two of our GirlsMatter representatives from New Hampshire, Graeham Dodd and Emily Belanger, seniors at Oyster River High School.

What happened in New Hampshire

Panelists and audience members agreed that women are disenfranchised from the political process without actually intending to be. Over 36 million women of voting age are not registered to vote!

Marianne Jones noted that women are often left out of the debate; she pointed to the Democratic presidential debate on January 22, 2004, a major event that included no women panelists.

Terie Norelli reminded women that they are masters of childcare and healthcare, as well as major consumers. She encouraged women to inform themselves and then inform policy making, by contacting their representatives.

Audience members voiced their many and varied encounters with gender discrimination, especially in the workplace. Even younger voters, such as UNH sophomore Meagan McClusky, proclaimed gender inequality a major but invisible issue as young women are disconnected from the system.

Gender discrimination becomes visible when you look at the face of Congress. There are only 75 women out of a total of 533 representatives. Specifically, there are 14 women out of 100 in the Senate, and 62 women out of 433 in the House.

By calling five friends and reminding them to cast an informed vote and send $5 to a candidate, we can take our half of the seats at the table in both parties. We can also change history, priority, and policy.

Stick with WomenMatter. Inform yourself and your friends, register to vote, discuss with other readers through our online forums, and contact your representatives. If you live in South Carolina, Michigan, and California, we will be coming to you. Look for event information posted on the homepage.

Update Posted on: 1/30/2004

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