JOHNSTOWN — The Elizabeth Cady Stanton Hometown Association representing a group of local citizens, most of whom are women , formed a Voter Support Group to encourage all eligible voters to participate in the 2020 elections for federal, state, and local candidates. Representatives from Fulton-Montgomery Community College, HFM Prevention Council and Fonda-Fultonville Central School District participated in this program, facilitated by ECSHA Board Member Jennifer Gardella.
According to the release, many publicity activities to energize votes occurred as part of this non-partisan project. The ECSHA would like to take an opportunity to remind voters that voting is a duty and not just a right in a democracy where government rests on the consent of governed.
2020 marks an important 100-year anniversary in the womens suffrage movement as white women citizens were enfranchised under the 19th Amendment ratified in 1920. Johnstown native, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, was one of the first women in the United States to demand voting rights for women. Members of the ECSHA are committed to continuing Stanton’s legacy and the legacies of other suffrage leaders past and present to expand and protect the right to vote to all citizens, the release stated.
“It is our citizenship right that enables persons from many backgrounds to seek equal treatment under the laws of the land,” said Janet Davis, director of membership and member services for the Fulton Montgomery Chamber of Commerce, in an email. “ So we encourage all registered voters to vote ‘up and down the ballot’ for federal, state and local candidates to ensure that our democratic tradition grows stronger each election cycle. And it looks like many Americans are energized to do that.”
