women’s right to vote
Why aren’t Women Using their Right to Vote?
From the time the United States of America was born, suffragettes have been
struggling for women’s right to vote. It took centuries of hard work before
women finally had their voices recognized with the 19th Amendment to the US
Constitution which guarantees women’s right to vote. Almost 100 years has
passed with women gained their votes – so why aren’t they using it?
Since the 1980s, women have been voting at higher rates than their male
counterparts. However, that does not mean that many women haven’t been
apathetic about their rights. In the 2004 presidential election, 36 million
women were not registered to vote at all and another 8 million women who were
registered did not vote.
Even though women’s right to vote is guaranteed, it does not necessarily mean
it is easy. Studies show that single women move about every 3-4 years, which is
more frequently than single males. Each time they move, voters are required to
change their voter registration card. Many women simple forget or they feel too
busy to go through the process. Another major obstacle to women’s right to vote
is name change after marriage. With the 2008 election, more females took part
in their women’s right to vote but there is still a lot of work to do for the
2012 election.