Well, it’s been quite a 2020, and women have proven that they are able to rise to the occasion in this election year. We know there’s the pandemic, the economy, the racial injustice, all of which are absolutely a priority. But has anyone else stopped to pause and appreciate that we have the first African American and first Asian American woman to be the vice presidential nominee for a major party in the United States? And only the third woman nominated as vice president for a major party ticket in our 244-year history? Women are showing up across the board. The best moderators of presidential debates and interviewers of candidates? Indisputably women. Here’s looking at you, Kristen Welker, Lesley Stahl and Savannah Guthrie. In honor of women and this election year, our team put together 8 fun facts about women’s suffrage.

1.    The first country in the world to give women the right to vote was New Zealand, in 1893.

At that time, women couldn’t run for office, but they had a say in who was elected.

2.    In Afghanistan, women have had the right to vote since 1919 — a whole year before American women.

Today, though, the reality is that Afghanistan has one of the most oppressive regimes in the world, and even with the right to vote, only 6% of Afghan women have any education and they risk their lives at the hands of Taliban extremists to exercise this right.

3.    Switzerland only gave women the right to vote 40 years ago.

4.    One of the most recent countries to grant women suffrage is Saudi Arabia, in 2015.

5.    According to the World Economic Forum, 56 nations around the world have had a woman head of state for at least one year, which is 38% of nations studied.

6.    There are 15 female leaders currently in power, and 8 of those are their country’s first female leader.

7.    As a territory but not state of the US, Wyoming was the first place in the country to grant women the right to vote, in 1869.

8.     Another shout out to Wyoming, which was also the first state to have a woman governor, Nellie Tayloe Ross, in 1925.

9.    There are approximately 152 million registered voters in the United States, and over 50% of them are women.

In every election since 1984, women have had greater turnout at the polls than men.

10.    We will see a woman president in the United States in our lifetime.

As women, we have the majority and the ability to elect a qualified woman, of which there are many among us. The time is now to vote, to have our voices heard and to take leadership in our country.