Issue Two: What Women Are (and Are Not) in the Electorate

Westlaw allows users to search for all Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) opinions that have used the phrase “women are”. A recent search returned 95 opinions. The most recent opinion using the phrase “women are” was the Dobbs opinion written by Justice Alito and joined by the majority members of SCOTUS:

“Women are not without electoral or political power.” Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Org., 597 U.S. 215, 2277 (2022).

Instead of saying what women are in this quote, Justice Alito says what women are not. He says women are NOT powerless. He says that we have the power to vote and that we need to use our power to vote (he says “women”, but it is an issue for everyone). This is not the time for women or men to sit out. Think of your mom, sister, daughter, wife, or any other label applied to a human who no longer has the same rights as before June 24, 2022, the date of the Dobbs’ opinion.

If you believe that now is better than “before” for women – 100% agree! As evidence of what it was like when only white men could vote, here is a sample run-on sentence contained in a dissenting minority opinion from SCOTUS dated December 1, 1851, penned by Justice Wayne. This opinion contains the following quote:

“[T]hat the testimony of women is weighed with caution and allowances for them differently from that of men…” Gaines v. Relf, 53 U.S. 472, 551 (1851) (dissenting opinion).

In other words:

“[W]omen are inferior to men…” Id.

Context: This opinion was written three years AFTER Seneca Falls, and almost 70 years before women had the federal right to vote.

Be sure to use your power today and VOTE!

Issue One: Oklahomans are 48th in the Nation in Voter Turnout

TRF Voter Information Series

As of July 3, 2024, The Rudnicki Firm (“TRF”) employs seventeen Oklahoma residents and has lawyers working twenty pending cases in the state courts of Oklahoma.1  The city/town, county, state, and federal elections each have different effects on an individual Oklahoman and the governance of different levels.  If you think or you have been told that your vote does not count, that is simply false.  Every vote counts and this is true in the year 2024, just like it has been in every past year. This article is to provide facts so each of you will VOTE.  If you need to register, you can do so here

Did you know that a single vote in Oklahoma is worth more than a single vote in almost any other jurisdiction in the nation? Regrettably, this value is due to Oklahomans near last place ranking in voter turnout.2 The pitiful Election Day turnout is a relatively new trend, as the state has steadily dropped seventeen places over the past five presidential elections.3 But voter turnout is a tight field; even a ten-percent voter increase can make Oklahoma competitive with the national average in time for the 2024 Election.4
Bumping up the number of voters in Oklahoma could lead to federal dollars and increased disposable income for all state residents. Low state voter turnout has been financially crippling: Oklahomans’ disposable income is at a twenty-year low compared to other states.5 Last year, Kansans kept on average over $3,000 more than their Oklahoman neighbor.6 During the pandemic, Oklahomans were made to scrape by with some of the least federal support in the nation.7 These financial realities coincide with the near thirty-year freefall in relative voter turnout that finds Oklahoma at the bottom of the list.8  

Voters ensure that Oklahoma selects the most capable candidate who can compete and win for Oklahoma on the national stage. Voters represent the millions of Oklahomans who either will not or cannot vote for themselves.   

VOTE. Whether you vote to bring the state back into national competition, to boost Oklahomans’ support and income, to improve quality of life for you and your family, or to ensure the most capable candidate is elected, VOTE.  Based on the data, your vote should count more here in Oklahoma than anywhere else in the country.  

The Voter Registration Deadline for the General Election is October 11, 2024. For those who cannot vote on the November 5, 2024, Election Day in Oklahoma, early voting begins on October 31, 2024, and runs through noon on November 2, 2024. Learn more about the voting process in Oklahoma from the Oklahoma State Election Board.


1 TRF is motivated to increase voter turn out.

2 Election Sciences Lab, Univ. of Fla., 2020 General Election Turnout, https://election.lab.ufl.edu/voter-turnout/2020-general-election-turnout/ (last visited June 24, 2024); New Hampshire Secretary of State, Voter Turnout Ranking of States: 1996-2020 Presidential Elections, Based on Vote for Highest Office Divided by Voting Age Population (VAP) AFTER National Voter Registration Act of 1993, https://www.sos.nh.gov/ (last visited June 24, 2024); Voter turnout rate in the presidential election in the United States as of December 7, 2020, by state https://www.statista.com/statistics/1184621/presidential-election-voter-turnout-rate-state/.

3 Id.

4 Id.

5 U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, SASUMMARY State annual summary statistics: personal income, GDP, consumer spending, price indexes, and employment (https://apps.bea.gov/itable/?ReqID=70&step=1, last visited June 24, 2024).

6 Id.

7 https://home.treasury.gov/system/files/136/fiscalrecoveryfunds-statefunding1-508A.pdf.

8 See Election Sciences Lab, supra; New Hampshire Secretary of State, supra.