Since America’s founding, women’s crucial role in protecting democracy has been overlooked—even though they have steadily, generation after generation, worked to defend it.

Even prior to gaining voting rights, women organized national , raised funds for reform movements through , and built civic institutions like , which shaped public life beyond election cycles. Despite chronic underrepresentation in and government, American women have voted at than men in presidential elections for decades.

Today, women’s voting rights face threats. And I would argue these threats exist because of our participation in democracy.

Nationwide, federal legislation like the and a surge of restrictive voting laws aim to impose new documentation requirements and bureaucratic obstacles that threaten to —particularly the nearly 70 million married women whose names may not match their birth certificates, women of color who already encounter , and mothers juggling careers, caregiving duties, and civic participation.

Studies from the and the indicate that overly burdensome photo ID requirements can prevent eligible citizens from voting. Lack of required ID is especially common among minorities, low-income voters, young people, seniors, and those facing economic obstacles to obtaining documents. Therefore, while voting document measures are often framed as ensuring “election integrity,” they are likely to in practice.

that U.S. elections are already , with , , and that consistently verify the integrity of our system. Measures that add unnecessary barriers risk eroding voter confidence rather than strengthening it.

Since the passage of the , attempts to undermine ballot access have evolved rather than vanished—from polling place closures and voter roll purges to restrictive photo ID laws and cuts to early voting. Current proposals mirror this history.

, reducing , or to register may sound technical and, on the surface, perhaps even fair ways to ensure credible elections. But look deeper, and you see these policies can hit hardest those with least flexibility—women working hourly jobs, caring for children or aging parents, or living far from government offices. For married women who’ve changed their names, new proof-of-citizenship requirements could pose additional barriers.

When policymakers make voting harder, they determine whose voices count. A democracy that works conveniently only for the unburdened is not genuine democracy.

To be sure, restricting voting access can voters of all political persuasions. We must defend voting access and our democracy for all Americans.

But we must also acknowledge that women’s civic engagement has long unsettled powerful men. From the suffrage movement and civil rights era to today’s voting access debates, expanding democracy has required women to challenge entrenched power. And we are not backing down.

Nationwide, women are creating and to challenge unlawful barriers. We are acting as to ensure elections run smoothly. We are mobilizing locally and nationally to defend democratic norms.

History demonstrates that suppression efforts often ignite greater civic engagement. In 1965, when peaceful voting rights marchers were violently attacked on the Edmund Pettus Bridge on what became known as , the nation reacted with outrage that helped drive passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and dramatically expanded voter registration across the South. More than 50 years later, millions of women and allies again marched in 2017 for the , one of the largest demonstrations in American history. When Americans believe their rights or democracy are threatened, participation does not dwindle. It grows.

When women engage in political life—as voters, candidates, and decision-makers—institutions grow more representative and responsive. Public trust increases. Policy debates broaden to reflect families’ and communities’ realities. Democracy strengthens when it reflects the full range of lived experience.

The future of American democracy depends not on restricting participation but on expanding it—on welcoming more voices, not fewer. Women, especially women of color, have always been central to that work, even when the spotlight failed to recognize them.

Those who underestimate women’s civic power will find, as history has repeatedly shown, democracy’s most resilient defenders are often those who’ve fought hardest to claim their place within it.