COLUMBIA, S.C. — Data from the State Election Commission shows that more women participated in the February Presidential Primaries than men in at least four Midlands counties.
Tuesday night, female voters got a chance to meet candidates that look like them vying for their vote. Women from all over the area gathered together for a candidate meet and greet in the name of civic duty and informed voting.
"Let me hear what they have to say, who wants my vote?," Triness Kirby, attendee said.
Attendees like Trinessa Kirby wanted a chance to meet these women candidates in person and hear what their positions were.
"I found out about Women in Leadership through LinkedIn through a colleague of mine and then through their newsletter I found out about this event, which was perfect because I definitely wanted to really do my part to be more civically engaged and find out what's going on in our communities and our counties," attendee Kahlia Aposhian said.
According to data from the SC Election Commission, not only did more women participate in the primaries here in parts of the Midlands, since January of this year, more women than men have registered to vote in both Lexington and Richland counties.
"Women are 51% of the population in South Carolina and their opinions and perspectives need to be represented in the legislation that affects all of us," said Sara Ballard, executive director of South Carolina Women in Leadership.
The organization hosting the event, South Carolina Women in Leadership empowers women to seek leadership roles through training, resources, networking and connections.
Tuesday's meet and greet had a list of 20+ women candidates running for school board, county council, and the state house of representatives.
"Our last study said that women constituted about 22% of the judges in South Carolina. We've moved it by 1% to 23%. That's progress obviously, but it's not the progress that we want to see reflected in the general populous that we have in South Carolina. So I think just like we focus on judges trying to reflect the community, I think that's also really important for our politicians," Shannon Polvi, attendee said.
South Carolina Women in Leadership said this will likely be their last event before Election Day, but they have voting and candidate information on their website here.
