Meghan Markle Urges Fans To Vote In The Election & Warns ‘If You’re Complacent, You’re Complicit’

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Meghan Markle, 39, is pleading with women to not sit on the sidelines but to make their voices heard and vote in the general election on Nov. 3.

The Duchess of Sussex shared her message on Aug. 20 at the beginning of a virtual voter registration party as part of Michelle Obama’s When We All Vote Organization.

Sitting in the Santa Barbara, California home that she recently bought with her husband Prince Harry, the former Suits actress told the viewers online, “When I think about voting and why this is so exceptionally important for all of us I would frame it as: We vote to honor those who came before us and to protect those who will come after us.”

“I think we’re only 75 days away from election day and that is so very close and yet there is so much work to be done in that amount of time because we all know what’s at stake this year,” she went on to say.

But it was her request that women become more engaged and actively vote and encourage their loved ones to do the same that expressed a sense of urgency.

“We’re obviously faced with a lot of problems in our world right now – both in the physical world and the digital world – but we can and must do everything we can to ensure that all women have their voices heard,” the duchess told the women tuning into the virtual party. “Because at this juncture, if we aren’t part of the solution we are part of the problem. If you aren’t going out there and voting then you’re complicit. If you’re complacent, you’re complicit.”

During the livestreamed “couch party,” titled “When All Women Vote,” Meghan, kicked off the event, which was due to feature Obama senior advisor and When We All Vote board chair Valerie Jarrett, actress Yvette Nicole Brown, Glamour EIC Samantha Barry, and DJ Diamond Kuts. The event is partly in celebration of the 100th anniversary of the 19th amendment, which gave women the right to vote. Although it only applied to white women. Black, Latinx, Asian, and Native American women were still barred.

Meghan is a dedicated voting rights advocate. The LA native gave the commencement speech at her former high school on June 3, and took the opportunity to tell rising seniors to vote in November. “What is happening in our country and in our state and in our hometown of LA has been absolutely devastating,” she said, referring to the protests after the death of George Floyd. She urged the students to “use your voices” and be “part of the movement” that brings the country together. “You are equipped, you are ready, and we need you, and you are prepared,” she said.

The When We All Vote event came just hours before Joe Biden accepted the Democratic nomination for president, on the last night of the Democratic National Convention. Michelle gave a stunning keynote speech on the first night, Aug. 17, warning voters: if you think things can’t get any worse, they certainly will with another four years of the current administration.

If you haven’t registered to vote yet… what are you waiting for? Listen to Meghan; it’s as easy as filling out the form below: