Celebrating a Century of Women’s Suffrage and Secure Elections
International Women’s Day 2020 coincides with a significant milestone in U.S. history: the centennial of the Nineteenth Amendment, which granted women the right to vote. For those of us working on technology projects aimed at protecting democracy, this date carries particular weight—the fight for the ballot was, at its core, a struggle for access to a fundamental civic process. Reflecting on how that access has evolved—both in terms of who gets to vote and how they get information about voting—offers important context for the work of securing elections today.
The Long Road to the Ballot
The Women’s Suffrage Movement began in earnest in 1848 at the Seneca Falls Convention, where the radical idea was introduced that women deserved their own political identity and that a legitimate government requires equal rights for all. The movement’s momentum carried through the founding of the Congressional Union for Woman Suffrage in 1913, which used street meetings, parades, and petition drives to pressure Congress. After a decades-long campaign, the Senate passed the Nineteenth Amendment in 1919, and it was officially ratified on August 26, 1920.
However, the amendment’s promise was not extended to all women at the time. Internal inequality—a focus on white middle-class interests—meant that African American, Asian American, Hispanic, and American Indian women were largely excluded. It wasn’t until President Lyndon Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act of 1965 that African American women were guaranteed the right to vote, a direct outcome of the civil rights movement.
Shifts in Participation and Representation
Since 1964, female voters have outnumbered male voters in every U.S. presidential election, according to the Center for American Women and Politics. Internationally, the push for representation has seen historic gains. In 2018, the U.S. elected its most diverse Congress to date; Slovakia and the United Kingdom elected their first female president and a record number of female MPs respectively; and Mexico’s Senate achieved 49% female representation. Female prime ministers now lead Denmark, Norway, and Finland. Broadly, the right to vote is a nonpartisan foundation that strengthens democracy, and greater diversity in office promotes a wider range of experience and thought.
How Election Information Is Shared Today
Information dissemination has come a long way from the pamphlets and street meetings of 1913 and 1848. Today, state and local government websites are the primary sources for voter registration details, polling station locations, and election results. Political campaigns heavily rely on their digital infrastructure for policy announcements, fundraising, volunteer recruitment, and supporter engagement—all to keep voters informed and connected.
The Security Imperative
The original suffragists sought access to the political process; today, ensuring that access also means protecting the digital channels that make it possible. Cloudflare has made election security a core priority through projects like the Athenian Project and Cloudflare for Campaigns. This focus is grounded in a concerning reality: in 2016, the Department of Homeland Security reported that state and local election infrastructure in all 50 states was targeted. Now, Cloudflare protects more than 170 state and local election websites and provides services to 18 of the 32 U.S. Presidential campaigns. The goal is to ensure that malicious actors cannot take these sites offline, protecting voters’ faith in the democratic process and their ability to get accurate, timely information. The suffrage movement’s greatest legacy is the understanding that civic participation relies on both protecting and providing access to the information that makes voting possible. As we celebrate the women who fought for their voices to be heard, it is a reminder that voter confidence is essential to the health of democratic institutions.
