How Women Are Voting in the Centennial Year of Women’s Suffrage
Women wearing masks pose behind a voter registration table in Union Square in New York City. Source.
One hundred years ago, the 19th Constitutional Amendment was passed, giving women the right to vote. With the 2020 election still underway, women are a major demographic for candidates to reach. Of course, these numbers are ever changing but as of Wednesday, November 4, 6:00 pm EST, here is a breakdown of how women have been using their right to vote in this tumultuous election and how it could potentially affect who wins the Presidency in January.
The verdict is still out on many key states that either candidate needs to win in order to get the presidency. Part of the reason these states are taking a longer time to tabulate all the votes is because of the massive influx of early and absentee ballots that in some states were not allowed to be counted until election day. Women make up over half of these kinds of votes in those states.
According to recent national polls, women have largely skewed toward Biden by a few percentage points. Conversely men have skewed toward Trump by a few points. This pattern could be seen in the election outcomes of many states. In Texas, a state Donald Trump is projected to have won, the polls showed a large gender gap. Over 50 percent of women supported Biden, while only 46 percent of Texan men supported him. This gap was even larger amongst college educated men and women in the state.
Polls have looked similar in other battleground states. Arizona is leaning towards a Biden win but still has a good amount of votes to count. In this state, Biden has a nine point lead among women. In Michigan, a state Biden was recently projected to win, polls show record turnout for some counties and another sizable gender gap. Another state in which there are many ballots still to count is Pennsylvania, where Trump has been in the lead. However, the most recent poll showed Biden up 18 points among women, with overwhelming support from Black women.
It is still quite early to tell, but these numbers could give Biden a boost in states who have yet to count a good portion of their mail in ballots. In Pennsylvania, Nevada, and Arizona only around 86 percent of the votes have been counted. Therefore, an increase in ballots, over half submitted by women, could potentially shift the outcome.