women's rights

Most of the folks I grew up with had a dad in a union. How weird is it that I now have friends either joining or choosing not to join unions but are able to? The AFL-CIO blog has a great piece about the Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance outreach to young voters in recognition that youth hold the key to progress in the democratic movement.

"The future of the union and social justice movements lies in reaching out to college students, young workers and young voters. . ."

The union connected student organizations and leaders along with union officials to talk about issues that matter to both groups including social justice and rights for working people.

"This convention marks a historic juncture for APALA and the labor movement," APALA President John Delloro said. "We have an opportunity, and indeed an obligation, to continue building stronger worker and student alliances in the fight for worker’s rights."

Delloro, a member of AFT, says it’s clear young people feel a call to activism. Young voters played a big role in changing the nation in the 2008 elections, and college students have been involved in major worker campaigns over the past two years."

He went further to say that its time for the movement to look toward the next generation and what will work best for them.

I have a great friend who credits me with teaching him all about the internet and how to use it to organize folks online. He's a great union organizer that now works as a political director for his local. Online tools he swears are the key to bridging the generational gap between the younger union members who are totally inactive and the older more established leaders who are growing fewer and fewer.

This weekend, I am attending a planning summit with a group of women's rights leaders in my state to discuss ways to better develop women's rights into the new era. In the past my state has had a number of older women who were too possessive to allow younger generations to participate much less plan or facilitate any part of the movement. The result has been a steady decline in membership and participation in local orgs and national orgs with state chapters.

So many of these groups now see that young people might not be the answer but are at the very least an ally in their cause, and further they are willing to dialogue youth to find new ideas for much more modern outreach. Its a hopeful time!

In a report released yesterday by Women's Voices Women Vote (pdf) evidence of continued voting problems are particularly high among women.

According to a report on the... report in the Chicago Sun Times

"While the study discusses obstacles to voter participation in general, it focuses on the unique impact it has on traditionally under-represented groups who comprise the majority (52%) of the population -- African Americans, Latinos, unmarried women and young voters -- it is unmarried women who drive this majority and the mission of Women's Voices Women Vote."

I would say it amazes me, but I'm not the least bit shocked. Particularly, since Oklahoma's Legislature which had promised to allow previsions for students to vote with their ID's, passed a bill that will go to a vote of the people to vote provisional ballot if they don't have an ID or voter card.

Anything to reduce the power of that 52% right?

As TWW accurately says "If women were the only voters, the Democrats would win in a landslide every time. If men were the only voters, the GOP would be the left-wing party." But I digress.

This 2008 Brennan Center map below also illustrates the state variations related to identification needed to vote:

(click to make larger)

"Moreover, because of unclear and complicated rules in states and counties regarding who receives a provisional ballot, some voters who should get provisional ballots are turned away from the polls and others who qualify for a regular ballot are given provisional ballots."

The report goes on to say that in 2004 the top five problems at the polls had to do with provisional ballots. Not just the highest problem... but the top five. Fer realz.

Mike reported almost two years ago about unmarried single women and the important role they would play in the 2008 election. What WVWV found recently was that not only were they key players, they are also an ever increasing demographic.

"Unmarried women are the fastest growing large demographic in the population, comprising 25% of the voting age population," said Page Gardner, president and founder of WVWV. . . "Challenges that affect unmarried women most particularly, include greater mobility and access to less economic resources -- they have the highest poverty rate of any cross-section of the adult population," said Gardner. "Yet it is exactly this portion of the population for whom we make voter registration most difficult in this country."

The study also makes great mention of Election Day Registration (aka Same Day Registration) saying that in areas that have it there was a indeed a higher turnout - but further those areas lead in the highest turnout areas in the country.

In a report (pdf) from our good friends over at Demos, EDR has increased turnout as much as 10% in some areas and the administrative costs for EDR are often times lower than the non-EDR states.

Finally, the WVWV data outlines "the the most significant obstacles to voter participation."

1. "Voter Registration: controversies over voter registration produced more litigation than any other election issue in 2008, primarily due to outdated and problematic voter registration systems. By allowing reforms such as universal registration and greater uniformity of registration standards, many registration issues could be resolved. (emphasis mine)
2. Absentee and Early Voting: the rate of voters casting ballots via absentee or early voting methods is on the rise (38 million Americans in 2008). However, the rules surrounding these methods vary significantly from state to state. . .
3. Voter Identification Requirements: lack of consistency across state lines in relation to the types of ID required (e.g., driver's license, proof of citizenship) as well as whether ID is required at all, make it confusing and cumbersome to register and/or cast a ballot.
4. Provisional Ballots: among the top five complaints logged by the Election Protection Coalition's hotline during the 2004 election were problems with provisional ballots. . .
5. Voter Lists: state regulations are notably inconsistent when it comes to the maintenance of voter registration lists -- from who updates them to how the state maintains them, whether state or local election officials allow for name variations, and how and when the lists are purged."

Rep. Jackie Speier (D-CA) introduced legislation yesterday calling for a long-term official Commission on Women. While this might be similar to the President's announcement about his White House council on women and girls, the Commission on Women would be a constant council that would outlast any White House administration.

In a recent Politico piece

"some women said the interagency council Obama announced March 11 fell short of the full-time office or Cabinet-level influence they had hoped for. Mason offered no criticism of Obama's action, but said it spurred more calls for a broad-ranging national panel."

The Commission would be apprised of a 15 member group including four appointed by the President, three by the Speaker of the House, two by the Minority Leader in the House, three by the Majority Leader of the Senate, and two by the Minority Leader of the Senate. Other woman working on the President's Council on Women and girls would serve in an advisory capacity and liaise between the two.

Most notably is the mention in the bill that the Commission would mandate at least one member be between 18 and 24 to ensure there is a youth perspective. Each member would serve a term of 5 years on the Commission and represent a diverse background regionally, generational, racially, economically, and from various industries as a means of representing a wide range of women's issues and problems facing women.

Another commitment would be that the Commission is dedicated to grassroots outreach, and allowing all women to have a voice in advocating to the Commission and the members doing outreach themselves to ensure a broad group of women are being heard.

Rep. Speier's Communications Director relayed a story she told him of her own first elected position in the 1980's on the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors. There she held a hearing on the area's women in poverty and at that time, he said, women were the face of poverty. It developed in Speier a desire to work for women's issues across the board not merely at the county level but then at the state level as well. Her commitment to women continues through this legislation as well.

The Commission is part of a project of the national organization Women Count who has partnered with 55 other organizations across the country to encourage other members of Congress and the Senate to approve if not co-sponsor the legislation.

Women Count says the Commission is necessary in large part because

"as the economy became the single most critical issue in the election, the role that women play in our economic structure has never been clearer. Women are the backbone of the nation’s workforce and control 70 percent of its buying power."

Speier continues in the Politico piece

"If you look at statistics, it’s very telling. Women represent only 17 percent of Congress. The amount women make in comparison to men is only 77 cents on the dollar. ... It’s that kind of insidious discrimination that lingers.

They announced the bill Thursday because it was the anniversary of the swearing-in of Rep. Jeanette Rankin of Montana in 1917 - the first women to ever serve in Congress.

I'm pleasantly surprised by the call for at least one young woman to be on the Commission. I commend Women Count in addition to Rep. Speier for their thoughtful and youth friendly approach to solving the problems unique to the women's community and young women specifically.

I don't usually wear my feminist hat on here at FM, but March 8th is International Women's Day. Events actually occur throughout March to mark the economic, political and social achievements of women while also looking at ways we can move forward to protect women around the world who are still facing oppression.

Each year there is a different theme that countries and organizations choose that focuses on the progress and the hope for progress. This year the United Nations has chosen as their theme: Women and men united to end violence against women and girls.

Another more local group has also chose this as a theme: The state of Kansas. But more importantly Governor Kathleen Sebelius has signed a proclamation recognizing it as "Jana Mackey Day in Kansas."

This isn't something I talk a lot about, because it was such a difficult time, but last year in the throws of the campaign season one of my dearest friends was murdered by her ex-boyfriend. She had dedicated her life to fighting for women, women's issues, equality, and against domestic violence.

We'd worked together on campaigns for good EMILY's List endorsed candidates and Jana went even further when she worked as Lobbyist for the National Organization for Women, working behind the scenes to pass more comprehensive sex education in Kansas - which we lovingly referred to as Abstinence Plus.

After her death, family and friends established a national campaign to help Jana's service live on through others. Symbolic of the number of people who attended her funeral, the Eleven Hundred Torches campaign urges hundreds of ordinary citizens to serve others. They've encouraged us to inspire others to work in our communities and use this day to not only honor women but to help develop stronger citizens everywhere.

Governor Sebelius has joined the campaign and is calling on all Kansans to set aside time on March 8th to volunteer in their communities - I'm asking that we all use this day everywhere, inspired by our mothers, our grandmothers, our wives, our sisters, daughters, and our friends to build a better world.

Important and quick facts on young women and violence from the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence:

• 61% of female homicide victims were wives or intimate acquaintances of their killers.
• 10% of female homicide victims are less than 18 years old and only 9% are over 65.
• The average age of a female homicide victim is 36.
• More than 8 times as many African American women were murdered by a male they knew than were killed by strangers.