Nearly 200 people gathered Saturday, Jan. 18 to attend Moscow’s fourth annual Women’s March.
The march kicked off at 1 p.m. in front of Moscow City Hall and ended in East City Park where a brief program, consisting of speeches by community activists, took place on the park stage.
Led by the Moscow Peace Band, marchers carried signs, pushed strollers and walked dogs along their snowy route to the park.
2020 marks the 100 year anniversary of the 19th Amendment’s passage, making voting one of the leading discussion topics at this year’s march.
“I do really fear that there is this complacency with voting that people are kind of jaded about whether their vote really matters or not,” march organizer, Dulce Kersting-Lark, said. “It’s really easy to say, oh, corporate dollars outweigh any individual’s vote, and I think that’s taking the easy way out. We need to make sure that we’re getting every single person to the polls. We’re working in our region to make sure that there are more polling places.”
Ellen Dennis | Argonaut
As the November 2020 election season draws near, polling accessibility is becoming a focus in local politics.
Last November, a second Moscow polling place opened at the Hamilton Indoor Recreation Center on Mountain View Road on the eastern edge of town.
The Moscow League of Women Voters chapter, which works to promote active government participation among all people, is currently working with Latah County Clerk, Henrianne Westberg, to research the possibility of opening up another Moscow polling place in closer proximity to the University of Idaho and Moscow residents who live near the downtown Central Business District.
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In the 2016 election, a campus polling place existed in the Kibbie Dome. This location was closed following that election due to accessibility and security reasons.
Westberg will discuss the possibility of a new campus polling location in a League of Women Voters forum at 12 p.m. Wednesday in the Arts Workshop room of the 1912 Center, reports the Moscow-Pullman Daily News.
Another prominent topic of discussion at this year’s Women’s March was the cost of healthcare in the U.S. and extra expenses women have to account for, such as feminine hygiene products.
“One thing some of the signs that I saw today brought up was how people have to pay to be a woman. That is a serious struggle,” Katya Bobenhouse, a Clarkston resident said. I don’t make a lot of money, I work in Idaho. I’m at minimum wage right now and it is a struggle and having to pay for women’s products. Definitely puts a damper on the paycheck.”
Ellen Dennis can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter @ellenldennis