Furthermore, say some Eugeneans,
women worked hard for the right to vote. “If
young women understood that women’s
right to vote was wrenched from unwilling
male hands perhaps they would be less like-
ly to give it up,” said Karen Luna, manager
of Eugene’s feminist bookstore, Mother
Kali’s Books. “I think it is hard for young
people to look at pictures of Elizabeth Cady
Stanton and her ‘sisters of suffrage’ with
their high collars and gray-haired buns and
realize that these were tigresses who took a
battle to the streets.”
N EW V OTERS
Concern about the present political cli-
mate has caused many single women to reg-
ister for the first time. “There are things I
don’t want to live to see,” said 24-year-old
Erin Rose Turner of Eugene, “and I need to
vote against them.” Several of Turner’s
friends choose not to vote for ideological rea-
sons, she said, “and I would like to see their
votes in this election.”
Wendy Kai, 29-year old single mother,
cites her recent viewing of Michael Moore’s
film, Fahrenheit 9/11, and hearing Dennis
Kucinich speak this spring as motivation to
vote in November. “My son Elias is really
into G.I. Joe,” she said between waiting
tables at Morning Glory Café. Kai said she
was “horrified” watching the military
recruitment scenes in the film. Although the
issues of import to her may never be
addressed, Kai said, “By not voting I support
the system. I think that voting in numbers is
one way for change to come about.”
Desser agrees, noting that 22 million
votes “can absolutely make a difference in a
country where 600 votes decided the last
presidential election.” If single women voted
at the same rate as married women, there
would be six million more ballots to count.
On the other hand, 21-year-old Jen
Lokajickova just registered for the first time
but she is not planning to vote. “I don’t have
any proof that my vote counts,” she said.
To engage women who feel alienated
from politicians and distrustful of the elec-
toral system, the most effective voter regis-
tration and mobilization drives reach non-
voters on a personal level while encouraging
the message that “your vote counts.” Groups
that do this put voting in the single woman’s
cultural context.
Mother Kali’s Books is registering cus-
tomers from their front desk and at the
Eugene Pride Festival. Luna invited New
Voters Project representative Terra Sorensen
to train Mother Kali’s staff on voter registra-
tion. “Our intention is to get as many voices
heard as we can,” Luna said.
In an effort to target single women, NVP
canvassers work with women’s community
centers such as Mother Kali’s and
Womenspace, stand outside grocery stores
and attend festivals. Mothers can be particu-
larly pre-occupied, Barker said. “Sometimes
I’m talking to a woman with a baby in one
hand and groceries in the other,” he said. He
gets right to the point. “I tell them that if they
vote, things will get better.”
NVP intends to register 18,000 young
Eugeneans by Oct. 12. Barker is full of ener-
gy and excited about the project. “We’re
talking to everyone we see,” he said from the
300-square foot office he shares with 15
other NVP employees. The organization is
involved with several local churches, the UO
Student Vote Coalition and other Eugene
groups. At the Oregon Country Fair, NVP
registered 880 people.
The San Francisco-based Sequoia
Leadership Center is opening an office in
Eugene under the direction of Jen Rygas,
who worked on Kitty Piercy’s successful
mayoral campaign. The organization sends
volunteers door-to-door to speak with
unregistered single women. “What
works best is meeting women face-to-
face,” Sequoia Director Andrew
McGuire said. “First we are going
to register single women.
Then later we’ll go back to
them, doing a get-out-the-
vote campaign.”
Holly
Knight
describes herself as the
“self-appointed coordi-
nator of the Eugene
MMOB.” She laughs at the
lingo, but Knight is serious
about Mainstreet Moms
Oppose Bush and doing all
she can to elect John Kerry.
“Kerry is a candidate
worth fighting for,” Knight
said, pulling out a home-
made brochure that includes
Kerry’s voting record ratings
from such groups as the League
of Conservation Voters (96 per-
cent), NARAL and Planned
Parenthood (100 percent), the
NAACP (100 percent) and the
National
Education
‘There are
things I
don’t want
to live to
see, and I
need to vote
against them.’
–Erin Rose Turner
DR. DARIN J. WARD
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AUGUST 5, 2004 13