Women across the country staged what may be the largest protest in our nation’s history.  People are mobilizing, speaking out against a range of policies that discriminate against women and treat them as second class citizens. While we may pressuring current elected officials to change these policies, the only sure way to accomplish this is to elect representatives in all levels of government that embrace your principles.

In other words, this must ultimately translate to votes. As we seek to raise the bar, let’s first see where that bar is.

In this past election, the female participation rate was 79%. The male rate was similar at 77%. For women registered as Democrats, the rate was 86%, compared to 88% for Republican.

Participation rate for presidential election years is always highest. Next year is an off-cycle year for Federal elections, but important for New Jersey as we will elect a new governor. The last gubernatorial election was in 2013, and the rates were quite different. The female voter participation rate among Democrats in the County was 54%. This compares to 63% for Republicans.

We encourage everyone across the County to keep up the pressure on the current set of policies coming out of Washington, Trenton, and from Newton. This needs to translate to votes in November.