This election has brought out an ugly side of American politics, but this is the lowest blow.
To those of you who don't know, 538's Nate Silver came out with this prediction that Trump would win the presidency if only men voted. This spurred many Trump supporters to take to social media with the hashtag #Repealthe19th and you can see those tweets here.
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When I was a little girl, I never thought I'd grow up to be writing an article about a social media tag about repealing the 19th Amendment that gives all citizens of this country the basic right to vote, regardless of gender. Yet here I am.
Right off the bat, it is pretty clear that these people have no idea how an Amendment is repealed. To repeal an Amendment, another Amendment that counteracts the original one has to be passed, and passing an Amendment is an incredibly lengthy process. First, it needs to be proposed either by a state or by Congress by both houses with a two-thirds vote (that's pretty partisan stuff). Then it needs to be ratified by the states. Three-fourths of state legislatures must approve the new Amendment.
Just for laughs, let's look up who makes up Congress.
Congress is comprised of 541 members from the 50 states in addition to the delegates from territories, 302 of which are Republicans, 236 Democrats, 2 Independents and one vacancy.
There are currently 108 women in Congress, about 20%. Of these, 79 are Democrats and 29 are Republican.
Just to propose the Amendment to repeal the 19th, you would need 357 votes.
Since Trump is the Republican nominee, let's assume it is mostly Republicans voting for this. Whoops! Looks like Republicans don't have enough by themselves, even if all the female Republicans vote to take away their vote! They would still need 55 Democrats to come over to their side. But of course, a lot of Republicans have backed away from Trump and are focusing on maintaining control of Congress, so it's anyone's guess even how many Republicans would support this.
And that's just a two-thirds vote to propose the Amendment. Let's not even try getting into actually ratifying it.
The end point is, even if lightning struck the head of the pin, you'd never have the Amendment repealed by November 8th. Sorry, Trump. We women are here to vote.
That was practicality and numbers speaking. Now let's talk about morality.
How dare you. In all my life, I never dreamed an election could get so ugly that people were threatening to take away my right to vote because that vote wouldn't be for their candidate. It sounds like something out a dystopian novel! Of course, the practicality of repealing the Amendment in time to help Trump win the election is less likely than the dinosaurs returning. If Trump wasn't having trouble winning American women's votes before, he sure is now.
Now, to the part that has actually kept me up at night.
Because of the #Repealthe19th trending, the hashtag #WomenforTrump also gained popularity. I saw women my age and older tweeting with both these hashtags. In shock and horror I read about women who want to take away their own rights to elect a man who brags about assaulting women.
Ladies, you are so much more than that. You are strong and can do anything. We have changed this election because we know Donald Trump isn't the man for America's women. You are fully capable of making your own decisions. Think of your mothers, daughters, sisters and friends. And think of who can lead them best with integrity and respect.
Women fought for years to gain the basic right to vote in this country. We are not reversing that most basic human progress because women could keep Donald Trump out of the White House. It is not only women who were enraged by this hashtag, many men were as well.
The 19th is here to stay, and so are women.
Make your voice heard.
Go vote.
