The Year of the Woman?

Ellie Smeal, President of the Feminist Majority, FMF's sister organization, was featured on NPR's Tell Me More this morning to discuss the recent midterm election and the role of women. Listen in and share your thoughts on last week's election.

VOTE tomorrow! This is it!

Election Day is tomorrow! Exercise your hard-won civil rights and VOTE in the general election this Tuesday, November 2nd.

Thanks for all your dedication to the Get Out Her Vote campaign over the past few months. This is it, so remind everyone you know to vote and bring your friends, family, coworkers, roommates, and fellow feminists to the polls to vote, too!

Your state may allow you to register to vote on Election Day and then immediately cast a ballot, so find out if this is an option for you or someone you know.

Check for ID requirements or other voting requirements in your state by visiting our Get Out Her Vote website. We advise all voters to bring 2 forms of photo ID to the polls. If you arrive at the polls Tuesday and are not listed on the voter rolls, you have the right to vote at the polls with a provisional ballot. Know all of your voting rights by reviewing our printable voter checklist.

If you have any questions or problems voting, don’t hesitate to call our DC office at 703-522-2214 and ask to speak with a member of the Campus Team. See you at the polls this Tuesday!

Get Out HER Vote: On the Road

FMF National Campus Organizers are currently traveling across the country to discuss the issues at stake in the upcoming election. We've prepared talking points about reproductive rights, marriage equality, the environment and pay equity. What we didn't expect was the biggest issue of all: no one knows when Election Day is! Clearly there is work to be done.

In last month's eZine, I discussed the many ways to Get Out HER Vote on your campus by utilizing the Feminist Majority Foundation's GOHV toolkit. With voter registration deadlines beginning this week in many states, the time to register to vote is now! After that critical paperwork is complete, the real work begins. With just four weeks until election day (which is November 2, 2010 by the way) now is the time to engage your campus around the issues we can impact with our votes this Fall!

Despite being a little uncertain on the exact date (again, that's TUESDAY, November 2) the issues that student activists care about are endless. We've heard from students who are frustrated by the lack of reproductive health care services on campus, pay day lending in their neighborhoods and crisis pregnancy centers that are located across the street from their campus. With your vote this November, ALL of these issues can be addressed.

By utilizing our GOHV toolkit, host a panel discussion to educate your campus on the issues that matter to you. Table in high traffic areas on campus to inform your peers about their rights when they go to the polls. Flyer your campus with posters of the nearest polling location and record public service announcements on your campus radio about the importance of youth participation in civic engagement. At the University of Tennessee there is a polling location on campus and at Millsaps College students can vote directly across the street. Organize a march to the polls on Election Day (that would be November 2, 2010) and let your voice be heard!

Contact your National Campus Organizer for more ideas on how to Get Out HER Vote on your campus today. We can send you brochures, buttons and stickers to help you spread the word that on this Election Day, November 2, 2010, we each must VOTE AS IF YOUR LIFE DEPENDS ON IT. Why? Because it does. Don't trust me? Listen to them and VOTE.

This blog post is part of the October eZine. To receive our monthly eZine, click here.

How to get out HER vote on YOUR campus!

With just a few weeks before voter registration deadlines end in many states and only six weeks before election day on November 2, the time to get out HER vote on campus is now!

The Feminist Majority Foundation's Get Out HER Vote (GOHV) campaign is the nation's only student-led voter education and registration initiative aimed at increasing young women's voter participation. It's not enough to register yourself and go to the polls this year -- we must register and inform every feminist on your campus! Feeling a little overwhelmed? To help you get started, utilize FMF's GOHV step-by-step guide to getting our HER vote on your campus today!


Step One: Prepare
1. Review the GOHV toolkit online and designate GOHV chairs to coordinate the campaign and volunteers on your campus.

2. Know the rules and don’t be intimidated! Do you know your state's deadlines to register to vote? Have you ever heard of a provisional ballot? Like with all of your activism on campus, you must educate yourself first before your can inform your campus community. Don't be fooled by the scare tactics and misinformation of others. Know your rights and cast your vote this year! Check out our GOHV website for information on your state’s rules.

3. Build your GOHV campaign around four political issues that will resonate with your group and campus. What are the issues that are most important to you? Do you have a pay equity bake sale each year to raise awareness about wage discrimination? Does your group focus on global women's rights and seek to ratify CEDAW? All of these issues and more can be influenced with your voice and your vote on November 2. For more ideas use the What’s at Stake in 2010? GOHV handout to develop your GOHV platform.

4. Contact your county registrar to obtain voter registration forms, train to become poll workers, and petition for voting machines on campus. Visit our GOHV website to contact your Secretary of State or County Registrar to find the nearest location to pick up a large supply of voter registration forms. Be sure to become familiar with your state's voter registration form, instructions, guidelines, and voter registration deadline.

Step Two: Register
1. Table in high-traffic areas with GOHV materials. Draw attention to your table with balloons, signs, and banners. Have lots of registration forms, voter pledge sheets, and a list of polling stations on hand. No materials other than the registration form should reference political parties or any candidate. Remember you can not deny anyone the right to register to vote based on party affiliation. Don’t just sit behind the table – engage everyone passing by, and ask them to sign the GOHV voter pledge. Encourage students to register to vote using their local address, and tell them you will call them to remind them to vote before Election Day. If your state offers early voting, encourage students to vote as early as possible!

2. Contact the chairs of Women’s Studies and other departments on campus for permission to pass out voter registration forms at the beginning of class and explain how to fill out the form and the location of the nearest polling place. Be sure to collect completed forms at the end of your presentation and deliver them to the local registrar before the deadline!

3. Talk about the issues without endorsing candidates or political parties, and let students know how to sign up to get paid as a county poll worker. FMF's GOHV campaign is a non-partisan, issue-based campaign that does not oppose, support, or otherwise endorse any candidate for public office.

4. Deliver voter registration forms to the local county registrar before the registration deadline! **This is one of the most important steps!** If you don’t turn in the forms, you could be violating state law. Make several trips – county clerks offices often have small staffs, so it is important not to overwhelm them by delivering large stacks of forms all at once.

5. When you drop off completed registration forms, check the voter rolls for a random sample of names you previously submitted. This is a great way to verify the voters you register are getting onto the rolls.

Step Three: Mobilize
1. The month between your state’s voter registration deadline and November 2nd is the best time to mobilize registered students. Blanket campus with information about where and when students can vote. Leaflet with the GOHV FAQs handout to help students who may have questions. If your state offers early voting, publicize it widely.

2. Educate your campus through PSAs on campus radio, op-eds in your student newspaper and a panel discuss with coalition groups on campus about the issues at stake in this election.

3. On the day before Election Day, volunteers should set up a phone-bank to call students who signed voter pledges, remind them to vote, and let them know poll locations. If the main student polling location is off-campus, find out if the student needs a ride and organize a car pool.

4. Election Day – Organize voting rushes on Election Day to rally and lead hundreds of students to polling locations. Host an election watch party after the polls close to celebrate all your hard work!

Just in case you didn't already know: VOTE ON TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 2nd!

This was post was featured in the September 2010 campus eZine. To join our mailing list, sign up here.

Voting Is a Feminist Issue!

Elections are frequently won by tiny margins and the mobilization of students-especially young women-has the potential to change the political landscape drastically. Young people, especially young women, have important rights at stake in this 2010 midterm election. The stakes are high which means it is even more imperative that we exercise our right to vote! Voting is a feminist issue because we are disproportionately under-represented in all levels of government. Even though women are 51% of the population, they hold 17% of the seats in the U.S. Congress. Only 5% of U.S. House seats are held by women of color, and there are no women of color in the U.S. Senate. The picture in our state legislatures is better, but still dismal: women today hold only 24% of state legislative seats nationwide. At the current rate of gain for women in elective office, it will take over 200 years to achieve parity with men in Congress.

Not only is it necessary for us to go out and vote this coming November, but increasing voter participation among young women has the power to transform politics. Everything from abortion rights, the environment, educational loans, immigration reform and LGBTQ civil rights are going to be determined by who we elect into office. Women, between the ages of 18-24, have consistently voted less than any other age group: it’s time to change these numbers!

Your Vote Counts! Young women need to register, vote, and run for government in record numbers. Underrepresentation begins in student governments, so run for office on your campus and Get Out HER Vote this fall!

This was post was featured in the September 2010 campus eZine. To join our mailing list, sign up here.

Sufferin' until Suffrage

In case you couldn't tell by the plethora of yard signs or TV ads, we're in an election year, folks. Many states have keys races and measures on the ballot this year that will deeply impact your lives and your future. This fall, the Feminist Majority Foundation will return to college campuses with our Get Out HER Vote Campaign, to encourage young women to register to vote, to become informed on the issues, and pledge to cast your vote (along with all your friends) on November 2!

For many of us (now full fledged politicos) our first introduction to politics was from the catchy tunes of School House Rock. (Yes, I'm only a bill, and I'm sitting here on Capitol Hill...) To celebrate the recent 90th Anniversary of the 19th Amendment and to pay homage to our SHR mentors, turn back the clock and remember the time when we were "sufferin' until suffrage" and pledge to vote this Fall.

"Then the 19th Amendment struck down that restrictive rule. (Oh yeah!)
And now we pull down on the lever,
Cast our ballots and we endeavor
To improve our country, state, county, town, and school."

Vote on, sisters!

Guest post: 10 ways to celebrate Roe v. Wade!

Guest post by Jesse Michener, treasurer of Kutztown University's Feminist Majority Leadership Alliance!

Friday was the 37th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the landmark Supreme Court decision that re-legalized abortion in the United States. This is a day we feminist activists are supposed to be celebrating, but when looking at all of the barriers to obtaining safe, legal abortion, it’s difficult to celebrate.

There are more barriers to a woman’s right to choose today then there have been for decades. Many states have parental consent laws and mandatory delays. Add to that the lack of abortion providers and the harassment they face, and one can see how truly a woman’s right to choose is in jeopardy. That’s why on this anniversary, I think it’s important to remember a quote by Mother Jones, a labor activist, who once said, “Pray for the dead and fight like hell for the living.”

Before Roe, women died because they were unable to find safe abortion providers, and 37 years later we are still fighting to keep abortion safe and legal. That’s why we as pro-choice activists need to redouble our efforts to protect a woman’s right to choose, so that hopefully we can work to break down many of the barriers to choice that now exist. For this anniversary, I thought of ten things we all can do to support the pro-choice movement.

1. Online Activism: Everyone has a Facebook or a Myspace or a Twitter account. Use yours to support choice. Post pro-choice articles, make your status a pro-choice message, join pro-choice groups and become a fan of pro-choice organizations.

2. Join a group: There are many great pro-choice organizations out there from FMLAs on campus to local NOW chapters. Become involved in these organizations and work with others to make a difference.

3. Donate: Give what you can to organizations that support abortion rights. Organizations like the Feminist Majority, Planned Parenthood and the National Abortion Federation do amazing things. Giving just a little to these organizations can make a big difference.

4. Expose Fake Clinics and other anti-choice organizations: Many people are unaware that Crisis Pregnancy Centers do not refer for or perform abortions. It’s important to educate people on campus and in the community about this, so that people are aware and can make educated choices on where to go for reproductive health care.

5. Come Out: Come out as being pro-choice, discuss the issue with your friends and family, put a pro-choice bumper sticker on your car, wear a pro-choice shirt or button and be proud that you support a woman’s right to choose.

6. Volunteer: Many abortion providers need volunteers and there are many different ways one can. Clinic escorting is just one way to volunteer; this is where people walk patients and their support people through anti-choice protesters into the clinic. To find out how to help, call your local abortion provider and ask how you can help out.

7. VOTE: Becoming politically involved is one of the most important things we can do. Why not join a campaign, sign a petition or run for office. Being politically involved will ensure that future generations will still have the right to choose.

8. Educate Others: Organize an event on campus or do a presentation for a class on a woman’s right to choose. This is a great way to help others become more aware of important issues and to help more people get involved.

9. Advocate for others: Not everyone feels comfortable standing up for their own rights so it’s important for those of us who feel comfortable to speak up. Find out where your campus health center refers students who face an unintended pregnancy. If they don’t give students all of their options, speak up and fight for change.

10. Support All Choices: Last but not least, we need to remember that being pro-choice isn’t just about abortion, it’s about supporting self-determination. Over the last several decades the social safety net in our country has been eroded and it has become harder and harder for women who choose to become parents and adoption is a complicated process. We as feminist need to support women who choose to become parents and women who choose adoption as well.

Photo credit: KU FMLA

Thanks for weighing in, Jesse! If you would like to showcase your feminist group's activism around Roe v. Wade and abortion rights, send your 350 word post to campusteam (at) feminist (dot) org :D

It's Election Day!

Hey all!

So it's Election Day here in the great state of Virginia, and I've cast my vote! Have you?

We want to remind everyone the importance of getting out to the polls today! In the democracy we live in, if you don't vote, you don't count. Voting is a feminist issue - as long as women and minorities stay underrepresented at the polls, we'll find ourselves fighting even harder to get policies made that support our interests and needs.

The upshot? GO VOTE! Check out Vote411.org to find your polling places, etc.

Here's just a few of the elections we're keeping an eye on:

• Gubernatorial races right here at home in Virginia, as well as the New Jersey race.
• Mayoral races in Houston, Atlanta, and New York City.
• Ballot measures regarding same-sex couples and rights in Maine and Washington State.

If you live in a precinct with live elections, please get out to the polls today! We look forward to seeing the results come in.

Happy Election Day!

HERstory 89 years in the making...

Yesterday (August 18) marked the 89th anniversary of the Tennessee legislature's ratification of the 19th amendment.

One week from today, August 26 - Women's Equality Day, we celebrate the anniversary of the 19th amendment officially becoming a part of the US Constitution--at long last extending the vote to women!

Now if we can only work on getting equal recognition THROUGHOUT the Constitution...

Photo: Inez Milholland Boissevain seated on a white horse at the National American Woman Suffrage Association parade, March 3, 1913, Washington, DC. Courtsey of flickr.com/Bobster855

Vote NO on 48 in Colorado!!

Voter registration in Colorado ends on Monday, Oct 6. Absentee ballots go out Oct 7. Early voting lasts from Oct 20-31.

While election day (Nov. 4) is still 31 days away, many Colorado voters will casts their ballots in LESS THAN A WEEK!

On the ballot this fall are some critical amendments that threaten the rights of all women, people of color, and marginalized populations in Colorado. The Feminist Majority Foundation's Get Out HER Vote Campaign encourages Colorado voters to VOTE NO on 46, 47, 48, and 49.

• 46 is an anti affirmative action amendment that threatens to dismantle key governmental attempts toward equality and civil rights--among them, the ability for women gain state-funded contracts. VOTE NO ON 46!
  
  
• 47 is the "right to work" amendment that will create roadblocks for workers seeking to join unions and gaining collective bargaining rights. VOTE NO ON 47!
  
  
• 48 is the "fetal personhood" amendment that would grant full legal personhood, as defined by Colorado state law, to a fertilized egg--stripping a woman of her rights to her body. By giving constitutional rights to a fertilized egg, the amendment could not only ban all abortions, even in cases of rape or incest, but it could also ban emergency contraception, birth control pills, and IUDs. It could even eliminate medical choices like some cancer treatments, in vitro fertilization, and embryonic stem cell research. VOTE NO ON 48!
  
  
• 49 is another union-buster that threatens to take away the power of the political purse for trade unions in Colorado. VOTE NO ON 49!
  

Spread the word! If you vote in Colorado, VOTE NO on 46, 47, 48, 49! If you have friends or family who vote in Colorado, encourage them to VOTE NO on 46, 47, 48, and 49! The lives and future of women across the country rely on Colorado voters to stand up for women's rights and human's rights.

Vote as if your life depends on it!

From the Road: Creative Activism and GOHV

Hey there everyone, it's Val Vilott, a National Campus Organizer at FMF. I'm currently on the road in Ohio this week with my colleague Danielle Geong. All the organizers are out in the field right now, actually - Danielle and I are a few days into a trip as a part of our Get Out Her Vote Campaign that includes Cleveland State, Oberlin, Bowling Green, Toledo, Kent State, Case Western and more!

The most encouraging part of these travels thus far has been to see that so many students are really thinking outside of the box. The importance of creative activism is something that I can't emphasize enough - it really is what can set your efforts and initiatives on campuses apart. Especially in the midst of the election-year fray, voter-related events on campuses are not particularly unique, and unfortunately can start to blend into the background.

It seems that what makes or breaks events or campaigns on campus is their ability bring something new or fresh to the conversation that resonates with students and tune them back in to the civic engagement efforts. Voter registration tables are really important, but dynamic and exciting programming is what truly gets a campus community fired up. So how do you do it?

As a student organizer, I always wanted my events to be successful and interesting, but it's certainly not as easy as it sounds. From my experiences and talking with students over the past couple days, here's a few tips to get your brainstorming started:

• Examine what is already being done around the election on campus, and determine what gaps exist. You don't want to develop programming that doesn't meet a need on your campus!
• While you're looking at what's already in the works, see what opportunities there are for collaboration with other groups. Consider turning several scattered events into a cohesive series of events, so that you can publicize together and build momentum together. Example: Do a "Spotlight On:" Election Series - the Multicultural Students Organization event can address voting among minorities, the Economics Club/Department can highlight and explain economic issues in this election, and your group could have an event to focus on women's issues and what's at stake this November.
  
• Remember to be in tune to current issues on your campus and community - pay attention to other initiatives or referenda that might be on the ballot that could affect your school!
• Encourage people to think past voter-registration. Registration is obviously key, but getting those who are registered out to the polls can sometimes be an even larger task. Organize election-day trips to the polls, contact your county or municipal elections board about working at the polls, and make sure that there is a polling place on campus.

Finally, before Danielle and I run off to meet with some more students, I just want to remind you all that the campus team is always interested in hearing from you all - what's working, what isn't, and what we can do to support your efforts on campus. Feel free to contact us if you want to bounce ideas off of someone, are running into problems, or just want to introduce yourself. We look forward to hearing about the great things being done on your campus!

Getting out HER vote with Patriots and Ninjas!

Day one of our three week travels for FMF's Get Out HER Vote campaign began at George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia. Patrice and I met with one of our affiliated groups, the Pro-Choice Patriots, as well as a new outreach group, the Feminist Ninjas. Both were excited about GOHV, full of enthusiasm about the election and eager to begin a year full of feminist activism at GMU.

The entire campus of George Mason was blanketed with voter registration efforts -- including a campus-driven effort, Mason Votes. They even posted our PSA! We were hard pressed to find a student that was not already registered (which is a good thing!) and spoke with a reporter about FMFs campaign and our efforts to make sure young women and people of color are registered, educated and getting to the polls this election! Check out the article here.

A special thank you to the staff of the Women's and Gender Studies Center, Leah Perry, Dr. Saida Hodzic and Dr. Ingrid Sandole-Staroste for welcoming us with open arms into their classes and onto their comfy sofas as we spent the day criss-crossing campus.

Check out our video right before we spoke to Leah Perry's "Queer Theory" class:

After a very long first day, we recapped the highlights of our visit to GMU before hitting the road to Hollins University (note: we're still working out the kinks with the camera -- we're community organizers, not camera operators! :p):

Oh, and a little visit from our resident (unofficial) mascot, Cami (founding member of Camels for Choice):