Advertisement
Canada markets closed
  • S&P/TSX

    22,167.03
    +59.95 (+0.27%)
     
  • S&P 500

    5,254.35
    +5.86 (+0.11%)
     
  • DOW

    39,807.37
    +47.29 (+0.12%)
     
  • CAD/USD

    0.7380
    -0.0006 (-0.09%)
     
  • CRUDE OIL

    83.11
    -0.06 (-0.07%)
     
  • Bitcoin CAD

    94,810.38
    -860.84 (-0.90%)
     
  • CMC Crypto 200

    885.54
    0.00 (0.00%)
     
  • GOLD FUTURES

    2,254.80
    +16.40 (+0.73%)
     
  • RUSSELL 2000

    2,124.55
    +10.20 (+0.48%)
     
  • 10-Yr Bond

    4.2060
    +0.0100 (+0.24%)
     
  • NASDAQ

    16,379.46
    -20.06 (-0.12%)
     
  • VOLATILITY

    13.01
    0.00 (0.00%)
     
  • FTSE

    7,952.62
    +20.64 (+0.26%)
     
  • NIKKEI 225

    40,369.44
    +201.37 (+0.50%)
     
  • CAD/EUR

    0.6845
    +0.0002 (+0.03%)
     

Women are not monolithic, but ‘power the vote’: League of Women Voters President

Yahoo Finance’s Kristin Myers, Sibile Marcellus and Jen Rogers speak with Dr. Deborah Turner, President of the League of Women Voters, about the gender voting gap and why it’s so important for women to vote.

Video Transcript

SIBILE MARCELLUS: President Trump's campaign has filed a blizzard of lawsuits, alleging voter fraud in places like Michigan, Georgia, and even Pennsylvania. And President Trump took the extra step today by saying that all of the recent Biden claimed states will be legally challenged.

Joining us now is Dr. Deborah Turner. She's President of the League of Women Voters. Now, before Election Day, your organization filed-- or it was involved in litigation across the country having to do with voter suppression, specifically as it relates to in-person voting and absentee ballots. Do you equate Trump's claims of voter fraud to voter suppression?

ADVERTISEMENT

DEBORAH TURNER: Well, you know, first of all, as you know, I'm President of the League of Women Voters, and we are a nonpartisan organization. You know, we neither support candidates or parties. So our work is all about making sure that all citizens who have the right to vote get the right to vote.

And anytime we see barriers that stop citizens from voting, we consider that part of suppression or we consider that a concern, and we work to get rid of those barriers. And so our litigation this year has been around making sure that everyone gets the right to vote, regardless of where they live, what party they're part of, who they're going to vote-- we don't even ask those kind of questions, OK? We are just all about making sure you have the opportunity to vote and by getting rid of those barriers.

SIBILE MARCELLUS: But if this election is ultimately decided in the courts, do you think it gives an advantage to President Trump? And at what point could either candidate start drafting a concession speech?

DEBORAH TURNER: Well, you know, we're really not in the political side of this. If this election goes to the courts for whatever reason, we will assume that there are legitimate reasons that cases have been able to be brought before the courts. We don't make decisions about what's legitimate to go to the court or not.

Our only big concern right now is making sure that every vote is counted, and so we are supporting that. We are standing on that principle. And we fully believe that if you voted-- if you cast a vote that was considered a legal vote when you cast it, then it should be counted. And that's where the League of Women Voters stands.

JEN ROGERS: And to your position and your historic, you know, bipartisan nature here, nonpartisan, I want to ask you about the electoral college, because this is a stance that the League of Women Voters has gone out on. And as we look at everything-- look, we're concentrating on this handful of states, and then it's a winner-take-all in most of those states. Do you think that after we get to the other side of this we could see real momentum to change the electoral college, and that is something that the League of Women Voters has thought could be a good idea, right?

DEBORAH TURNER: Well, in the past, that is one of our issues is that we believe that the electoral college probably should be abolished. But the way we go about making these decisions and working for these decisions is studying all aspects, looking at all issues. And what we will do is we will get together as a League across the country and, you know-- as you know, we have 750 different units across the country in all 50 states, including Hong Kong and Puerto Rico, and we will decide what's best and what action should be taken.

You know, I really truly-- if you talk about democracy and what democracy means, or at least what it means to the League and I think what it means to most Americans, is that you have the opportunity to have your voice heard. And the best way to have your voice heard in our nation, or in our country, in our democracy is to be able to vote and to vote for who you want and to know that your vote counts. And so that's what our direction is going to be, and that's what we'll be looking at in the future.

KRISTIN MYERS: Dr. Turner, I've been looking at some of the exit poll data that's been provided by the Associated Press. I'm seeing here that 52% of men voted for President Trump compared to 44% of women. And there are reports that the gender gap this year is going to be wider than ever. I'm wondering what you think is driving that discrepancy, that gap, between how men are voting in the United States right now, for either candidate, and how women are voting?

DEBORAH TURNER: Well, you know, I guess if you sit back and you look at the issues that women vote on-- and first of all, women have been civically engaged in many ways through-- throughout their communities, not just in where they vote, but the things they do within their community, and within their homes, and within their families for years. And women have almost always voted-- once they got to vote-- more than men have because they know how critical it is. You know, I guess if you have to look at the topics of the things that women will look at, you know, they are concerned about their communities.

They have economic concerns that may look different than the economic concerns of men. They have family concerns. They have social concerns. And they tend to be engaged in those activities. And the more you're engaged in your community and civic work within your community, the more likely you're going be vote-- vote on issues that are directly that related.

So if you look at what women are interested in and what they do, that's how you'll find out kind of how they vote. But you know, women like I think-- earlier we were talking that, once again, women in America are also not a monolithic group of women. I mean, we have issues and concerns that are across basically the board about everything there is. So we can't say all women vote the same, but we can say that women have the power of the vote and women do power the vote.

SIBILE MARCELLUS: And Dr. Turner, I want to push a little bit because you said that obviously voter-- the integrity of the election is super important to you, and obviously to millions of Americans, and that your organization worries about making sure that every single vote counts. But given where we are now, it is no longer Election Day, ballots are still being counted, what role does your organization play now that we're post-Election Day and we still don't know who the winner is?

DEBORAH TURNER: Well, a couple of things we-- first of all, we play the role of patience. We have to acknowledge that this idea that we should know who the winner is on the day of the election, which has never really happened realistically and even how we certify elections, is something that is a myth, quite frankly. And so we have to tell patient-- people-- excuse me-- that you need to have patience and that the reason it's going to take a while is because that is the goal to have every vote count.

So our mantra is every vote counts. Every vote should be counted. Every vote counts. Every vote should be counted. If there comes a situation where there is a necessity to look at legal intervention in some way because we're worried about votes being counted correctly and completely, we will certainly look at that. At this point, we don't have any plans for that, but we are always alert and ready because our goal is to protect voters and protect the ballot.

JEN ROGERS: Do you have any concerns over voter turnout the next time around? Look, we are looking at historic numbers right now. But if people feel that either their vote hasn't been counted or that there was fraud, what happens next time? Are you worried?

DEBORAH TURNER: Well, you know, we're always concerned about voter turnout. And one thing that we're looking at first really critically for people to understand is that it's not just about voting for the president. It's about voting for all the-- the term is down-ballot-- I hate the term down-ballot-- but all the other positions on the ballot, whether it's your-- you know, your governor, or your senator, or your city council.

Those votes are probably as critical as voting for the president, and those votes are going to make a lot more difference in your life, maybe, in the long run than some other votes. So we press-- we push forward on that. The other thing is that we're going to be spending a lot of time getting voters to understand that what they do between, and how they vote between, and how they're engaged between presidential elections is what's going to make a difference in changing the things in their life that they want changed.

So we will continue that-- to push and tell people that every vote counts. And actually, if you look at your local elections, and you look at the numbers in local elections sometimes, like for your school board, which is critical-- and I'm always telling people please vote for your school board, OK, education is a key-- and if you look at your city council, so your county supervisors or whatever, you look at the numbers of people that vote and you look at the numbers that change who gets elected, and you realize yes, your vote can count.

So if you didn't vote and somebody won by five count-- five votes, and you and your friends could have gone and you wanted somebody else, well, your vote would have counted. So we-- those are the kind of things we're going to get people to-- hopefully people will understand we will push those messages throughout the country in every single little burg or big city.

SIBILE MARCELLUS: Well, we're definitely going to need some patience for that. Dr. Deborah Turner, President of the League of Women Voters, thanks so much.

DEBORAH TURNER: Thank you for having me.