Single women: If you vote, the politicians will come

Ladies, you have power. You single women are 24 percent of the voting-age population and the fastest-growing demographic. But you hold the most dismal voting record of any group. Twenty million of you stayed home for the 2004 election — when George Bush received only 3 million more votes than John Kerry. You overwhelmingly prefer Democrats, so you can shake up Washington, if you care to.

Researchers ask why you don't vote, and you often say, "Because the politicians ignore me." That's what we call a self-fulfilling prophecy. You don't vote, and politicians don't come by with promises of health coverage and decent pay. Once you start exercising your political muscle, the candidates will be up nights thinking of ways to serve your interests.

America's 47 million single women are a diverse group. Some of you are young professionals. Some are elderly widows. Many are single mothers. Half of you live in households that make less than $30,000 a year. Because single older women tend to vote at high rates, the showing by you younger senoritas is even worse than the overall number for single female voters would suggest.

A nonprofit group called "Women's Voices. Women Vote" (www.wvwv.org) tracks the reasons many of you don't show up on Election Day. Time hunger is a big one. Women who work and raise children carry an awful load — and may feel that they don't have time to participate in the democracy. But if you want government programs that will ease your burden, you can't stay home.

A third of you single women move every two years, which makes it more likely that you don't know your polling place. The League of Women Voters can help. Its Web site, www.lwv.org, has links for finding where to vote and for registering. Depending on the location, there may still be time to register for the Nov. 7 election.

Many single women tell researchers that they skip voting because they don't know enough about what's going on to make an informed choice. Single men don't share that sense of inadequacy.

"Unmarried men absolutely don't care," said Page Gardner, president of "Women's Voices. Women Vote." "They'll just vote."

Single women reportedly don't trust the information they get, Gardner adds, "and they hate, hate, hate all the negative advertising."

Lassies, let's talk about the culture for a minute. Although more than half of all households are now headed by single people, the idealized image remains a homestead presided over by a married couple. Not much attention is granted the divorced, the widowed and especially the never-married.

It's not surprising, then, that when Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research interviewed groups of single women, it found a strong, negative reaction to the word "unmarried" or even "women." You seem to believe that being single and female makes you a lesser member of society. And what makes your sense of inferiority really sad is that the same research shows that you react most strongly to messages that appeal to your sense of civic responsibility.

So here's the pep talk: You are as all-American as your married friends or thrice-divorced Rush Limbaugh. And your vote counts just as much.

Women like you are not going to see your reflection in campaign ads — or your interests on the national agenda — until you take yourselves seriously enough to vote.

Vote, my single sisters, and you'll learn what power is all about. And remember: If your politician doesn't treat you with respect, you can find another one who does.

Providence Journal columnist Froma Harrop's column appears regularly on editorial pages of The Times. Her e-mail address is fharrop@projo.com