Originally posted at HS Insider Los Angeles Times on October 1, 2020: Read at HS Insider
The Irvine Republican Women Federated hosted a fundraiser event emphasizing voter awareness and celebrating the 19th amendment’s 100th anniversary on September 26.
As the November elections are slowly approaching, this event held by IRWF acted as a voter registration rally.
The event was held in two forms — first, as a stand in the Irvine Bill Barber Park near the Irvine Civic Center, where voter registration and candidate information was available as a form of awareness. Greg Raths, Congressional candidate, Mark Newgent, Irvine Councilman candidate, Carrie O’ Malley, Irvine Councilman candidate, and Senator John Moorlach’s representatives were present as speakers at the beginning of the event to speak about voting and their own individual campaigns.
IRWF T-shirts were also available for purchase as an element of the fundraiser; the money raised went towards high school and college scholarships from the IRWF. The second form the event took on was in an ice cream truck, which handed out free ice cream while driving around various areas in Irvine with several of the candidates as a part of the rally.
Of course, with the COVID-19 pandemic still ongoing, there were also health precautions that were taken as the event went along. Masks were worn almost the whole time by most (except when it was necessary to take them off) and all of the food provided was packaged. The tables at the stand were distanced apart and hand sanitizer was provided at the site as well.
The IRWF is the Irvine chapter of the National Federation of Republican Women, according to their website. Although the organization is associated with the Republican party and the candidates present were mostly Republican, this event had less of an emphasis on the political side but rather on the awareness and importance of voting.
Especially as an institution that has a focus on Republican women, the event was significant as something that, along with voter awareness, commemorated the anniversary of the women’s suffrage ratification in the form of the 19th amendment. There were numerous posters and signs that celebrated this amendment around the Bill Barber park stand and this commemoration was one of the essential points of the event.
Overall, with the elections and all the recent events that have occurred, this rally was a way for Irvine residents to have an insight on the current political world or possibly register themselves to vote easily, provided by the IRWF as a political and active institution.
