House leader Pelosi, Mayor Breed help launch voting challenge ahead of Women's Equality Day

Photo courtesy of @LondonBreed/Twitter.

In honor of Women's Equality Day, a bevy of female leaders, including San Francisco Mayor London Breed and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-San Francisco, launched a challenge today to increase voter registration in the city.

The W Challenge, put together by San Francisco Assessor-Recorder Carmen Chu and her office, is challenging residents to, in addition to pledge to vote, also help register one woman who isn't already registered to vote and to bring one woman along to vote on election day.

"The goal is simple; it's to raise women's voices. To show that across the city, across issues, across ideology, we are united when it comes to getting women out to vote and the importance of getting women to vote," Chu said, today outside City Hall.

"It's just a fact, when you don't vote, you don't count. Your views aren't taken into consideration," Pelosi said. "It's so important that we come together on the 98th anniversary of women having the right to vote. 

At the time when this happened, they said 'women were given the right to vote' - No, we weren't given anything. Women fought, marched, starved, were starved, defied their families and did everything to be recognized... and we still have to continue to fight for equal pay and equal work." 

Breed said, "Here in San Francisco we are so fortunate, we have some of the most amazing leaders anywhere - they just all happen to be women." 

"Yes Carmen Chu, I accept the W Challenge. Because it shouldn't take more than 30 years for us to elect the second woman mayor of the city and county of San Francisco," she said, also mentioning that her first appointments as Mayor were women; Vallie Brown as District 5 Supervisor and Ivy Lee to the San Francisco City College Board of Trustees.

The launch was followed by a panel discussion at the Main Library on getting appointed to city boards and commissions.

According to Chu's office, California is one of the U.S. states with the lowest percentage of women voters.

National Women's Equality Day is observed on Sunday, Aug. 26.

For more information about the W Challenge, residents can go to wchallenge.org.