“Get Out the Vote 2024”

“Get Out the Vote 2024”

Hilo — July 22, 2024. In strong support of women and voting rights for all, the Hawai‘i County Committee on the Status of Women has partnered with the League of Women Voters of Hawaiʻi County to encourage everyone to register and vote in the 2024 elections.

We honor those in history who have fought for these hard-won rights for over a century.

This movement to expand the right to vote has historical roots in Hawai’i. In 1912, Wilhelmina Kekelaokalani Dowsett created the National Women’s Equal Suffrage Association of Hawai‘i, and over the years she rallied women of all backgrounds and ages, wrote columns in newspapers, and lobbied in the halls of Congress in the fight for women’s suffrage.

Today, surveys in Hawai’i County show that violence, poverty, and housing are some of the top concerns for residents of the Big Island, of which women and girls make up half of the population. Voting is one powerful way of addressing these concerns at the county, state, and national levels, and having a voice in determining Hawaiʻi’s future.

In the weeks ahead of the Primary (August 10) and the General Elections (November 5), there are numerous opportunities to get to know more about who’s on your ballot, whether through candidate forums happening around the county as well as online, or through resources like Vote411.org, where you can find personalized voting information, and check your registration status. You can also visit the Office of Elections (elections.hawaii.gov).

Register to vote and be a part of the solution, Big Island! Your voice matters. #Vote2024

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************************************************************************* ^•              How the 19th Amendment Complicated the Status and Role of Women in Hawai‘i –

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• Suffragists You Need to Meet: Wilhelmina Dowsett (1861-1929) – link

After the overthrow of the Queen, Wilhelmina Kekelaokalaninui Widemann Dowsett (18611929), founder of the National Women’s Equal Suffrage Association of Hawai’i, began organizing for the right to vote.

“The young women of today, free to study, to speak, to write, to choose their occupation, should remember that every inch of this freedom was bought for them at a great price. It is for them to show their gratitude by helping onward the reforms of their own times, by spreading the light of freedom and of truth still wider. The debt that each generation owes to the past it must pay to the future,” said suffragist Abigail Scott Duniway in 1915.

For Hawai’i County election and voter information, visit the Hawai’i County Office of Elections website at: elections.hawaiicounty.gov

League of Women Voters of Hawai‘i: https://my.lwv.org/hawaii

League of Women Voters of Hawai‘i County: https://my.lwv.org/hawaii/hawaii–county

League of Women Voters of Hawai‘i County on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/people/League–of–Women–Voters–Hawaii–County/

Hawai‘i County CSW on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CSWHawaiiCounty/