More women registering to vote in Pa. since Roe v. Wade overturned
news@greenecountymessenger.com
Since the U.S. Supreme Court蘑菇视频 June 24 decision to overturn the constitutional right to an abortion, reversing Roe v. Wade, more women are registering to vote in Pennsylvania.
According to Target Smart Insights, women in Pennsylvania are out-registering men by a 12-point margin.
Of the new registrants, 56% are women, compared with 44% men 鈥� which is about three times the normal gender gap.
鈥淲e鈥檙e definitely seeing women post-Roe decision who are engaged and fired up, and realize how important it is to vote,鈥� said Christina Proctor, chair of the Washington County Democratic Committee. 鈥淲e are seeing more women register to vote and get actively involved. I do think they鈥檙e going to show up in November (for the Nov. 8 midterm elections).鈥�
The new female registrants are much more likely to be Democrats 鈥� about 60% are registering as Democrat, as opposed to 15% Republican.
And they are much more likely to be young. Of the women who have registered to vote in Pennsylvania after the Supreme Court decision, more than 60% are under the age of 25.
A recent study shows that more women in Pennsylvania are registering to vote since the U.S. Supreme Court decision on June 24 reversing Roe v. Wade and overturning the constitutional right to abortion.
Target Smart Insights, a data analysis company, women in Pennsylvania are out-registering men by a 12-point margin.
In Washington County, women have outpaced men in voter registration by 37.5%, according to data from the Washington County Election Office.
Since the June 24 ruling, 411 of the county蘑菇视频 692 new voter registrations have been women, compared to 281 men.
Of the women who have registered to vote, 199 registered as Democrats and 113 registered as Republicans. The others have registered as no party, another party or independent,
Elections Director Melanie Ostrander said that overall, Washington County voters increasingly are registering as Republican or changing their party affiliation to Republican.
In Fayette County, there is a 43% difference between the number of women and men who have registered to vote since June 24, according to data from the Fayette County Election Bureau.
Since that time, 109 women have registered to vote, compared to 70 men. Of those women, 63 registered as Democrats and 25 registered as Republicans. Twenty registered as another party and one registered as independent.
鈥淒uring a year with a big election, there蘑菇视频 more interest in registering to vote, and this is a year with a big election,鈥� said Mary Beth Kuznik, director of the Fayette County Election Bureau.
Greene County was an exception, where male voters have outpaced female voters 43 to 38 post-Roe. Of the 38 females who registered to vote, 14 registered as Republican, 12 registered as Democrat, and 12 selected another option.
Target Smart蘑菇视频 analysis shows that in states where reproductive rights are at stake this year, such as Wisconsin and Michigan, women are out-pacing men by significant margins in voter registration. In states like Rhode Island and New York, where reproductive rights are protected by Democratic leaders in government, no gender gap exists.
The Pennsylvania Department of State noted that gender is not a required field on the voter registration form, so the state蘑菇视频 voter rolls don鈥檛 show a complete picture.
Rochelle Kaplan, voter services director for the nonpartisan League of Women Voters of Pennsylvania, said the organization has recorded an increase in the number of women registering to vote at college campus registration drives.
鈥淵oung people have had bodily autonomy for all of their lives, and this issue directly impacts them, which is incentivizing them to take action,鈥� said Kaplan.
More women voters could have an impact on Pennsylvania races for governor, senator, Congress, and the state Legislature 鈥� but, said Kaplan, she would 鈥渘eed a crystal ball to determine what that impact will be.鈥�
Currently, abortion is still legal in Pennsylvania, but November蘑菇视频 gubernatorial election likely will determine whether or not it remains so.
Gov. Tom Wolf, who has upheld women蘑菇视频 reproductive rights, will be replaced by either Democratic candidate and Attorney General Josh Shapiro, who has vowed to continue to defend access to abortion, or Shapiro蘑菇视频 Republican opponent, state Sen. Doug Mastriano, who opposes abortions under all circumstances.
鈥淲omen realize their reproductive rights are on the line this November,鈥� said Proctor.