Published in the Post Star July 16, 2020
Letter to the editor: Celebrate suffrage by getting out and voting
News Bulletin: this is the 100th anniversary of ratification of the 19th Amendment!
The national press is consumed with coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic and the associated issues of public health and safety, as well as impacts to our economy; therefore, it is understandable that recognition of this momentous date has fallen off their and your radar screens.
It is notable that PBS has produced a two-part documentary on women’s 140-year battle to win the right to vote. As the official ratification of that constitutional amendment occurred on Aug. 26, 1920, there is adequate lead-time to research and publish appropriate articles, perhaps even your own editorials, to coincide with that historic date. This letter is to urge you to devote coverage to the importance of voting rights — everyone’s not only females’.
I wish to make you aware that 2020 is, also, the 100th anniversary of the founding of the League of Women Voters. Although I am a member, I am not writing on the league’s behalf. It is a nonpartisan organization whose mission is empowering voters and defending democracy. They advocate for improvements to the election process, including measures that make registration simpler like the motor-voter bill and ways to make voting easier like early voting.
There is a well-known quote that goes: When you educate a woman, you educate a nation. In keeping with my theme: When women vote, women make a difference. Our region’s press needs to step up — promote voter registration, encourage people to go to the polls, to exercise their constitutional rights. Remember the pen is mightier than the sword. The ball is in your court.
Deanne Rehm, Bolton