Get Registered, It’s Your 19th Amendment Right
As 2020 commemorates the 100th anniversary of women’s suffrage, students utilize this right as they register to vote with the League of Women Voters for the upcoming elections.
PHOTO | Maleah Downton
Senior Allie Dierks registers to vote with the assistance of the League of Women Voters Feb. 24 in the Grande Salle.
The League of Women Voters registered students to vote Feb. 24 in the Grande Salle during junior and senior lunch periods.
“We actually have a long-standing relationship with the League of Women Voters,” history teacher and student council sponsor Jennifer Brown-Howerton said. “They have come in the last couple of years to register our girls. They were even here this fall.”
To qualify for registration, students must be 17 and a half or older. Students who registered were required to present a valid driver’s license and the last four digits of their social security number. Senior Ceresa Munjak-Khoury, who is 17 and a half, was surprised that she could register at her age.
“I thought you had to be 18,” Munjak-Khoury said. “I think it’s cool that they offered this here so I didn’t have to go out of my way. It was quick and accessible. It’s actually surprisingly easy.”
LWV, founded in 1920, is a nonpartisan political organization that works in encouraging public participation, understanding and advocacy within the United States’ government. LWV voter services committee co-chair Becky Yockey joined the organization following the 2016 presidential election.
“No matter how you feel about politics, voting is a right that everybody has if they’re 18. ‘Every vote counts,’ I think, is one of the most important things that we live by,” Yockey said. “If you have a district of 100 people registered to vote and only 20 of them vote, which is fairly common for Kansas City or Kansas, then you’ve got the plurality of 11 people making a decision for 100 people.”
Senior Dana Kalt registers to vote during senior lunch period Feb. 24 with the League of Women Voters.
This year marks the 100th anniversary of the passage of the 19th amendment. The 19th amendment granted suffrage to white women in 1920. Now, 100 years later, Brown-Howerton said with the increase in millennial and gen-z voters, the possibility for change appears near.
“I just hope to see that trend continue to grow so that all voices are represented,” Brown-Howerton said. “Women make up 51 percent of the population so we have a huge impact or could have a huge impact on elections if we get out there and vote. I think Sionian women are really strong and I think they do want to affect change.”