Florida get out the vote effort focuses on women

Contact: Ann Brown for Women's Voices. Women Vote, 301-951-8018; Web: http://www.WVWV.org

SAN FRANCISCO, Oct. 25 /U.S. Newswire/ -- In the final weeks before Election Day, Women's Voices. Women Vote (WVWV) and its field partner, USAction Education Fund (USAEF), are waging an intense campaign to increase voter turnout among Florida's 'women on their own'-that is, women who have never married or are divorced, separated or widowed. The effort to mobilize this constituency is unprecedented.

"These women have busy lives and complicated schedules," said WVWV co-director Page Gardner. "We are doing everything we can to take the process to them. We aim to help them take advantage of Florida's early voting laws so they can fit voting into their hectic schedules. In the 2000 elections, if women on their own had voted at the same rate as voters overall, there would have been over 200,000 more votes cast in Florida. We want to reach out to those who did not participate and make sure their voices are heard."

WVWV and USAEF are using traditional mobilization methods to reach this powerful voting bloc, who historically vote infrequently. They have already contacted over 1.8 million unmarried women in Florida through direct mail, door-to-door canvasses, volunteer phone banks and pre-recorded phone calls from celebrities. The hope is to contact tens of thousands of these women again before Election Day.

"These women feel like they have been ignored and neglected in the political process," says USAEF Canvass Director Rhonda Russell, who is canvassing in Orlando. "But once they realize how powerful their collective voice can be-22 million loud-they are ready to register and vote."

In 2000, 22 million unmarried women did not participate in the presidential election - 16 million never even registered. In previous presidential elections, analysts looked to the gender gap for explanations. Now WVWV's research has shown that a new fault-line in voter attitudes has emerged between married and unmarried Americans.

"Our research has shown that women on their own feel they have been ignored in the political process, and that issues they care most about - healthcare costs, minimum wage, equal pay - are not addressed by most candidates," stated Chris Desser, WVWV co- director. "But, our polling and focus groups have also shown that once these women understand what a powerfully large group they are part of, they become very motivated to participate in the electoral process."

Women's Voices. Women Vote is a nonpartisan project of a nonprofit organization, The Tides Center, and is working to increase the number of women on their own registering and voting in this election. To that end, they conducted the most extensive research ever done on single women in America - looking at 50 years of public opinion research, census data, exit polling and conducting their own polling and focus groups.

USAction Education Fund, along with partners in 15 states, is working with other national organizations in what is becoming the largest non-partisan voter registration and GOTV effort in the history of the nation.

NOTE TO REPORTERS: Please contact us for -- interviews with WVWV and USAEF spokespeople -- interviews with women who intend to vote as a result of WVWV and USAEF efforts -- an opportunity to go door-to-door with the WVWV / USAEF field team -- a beta copy of WVWV PSAs featuring Jennifer Aniston and Helen Hunt.

Go to http://www.WVWV.org for survey results and additional information.