Read the original article at Arkansas Matters.

"You Count. Be Counted!" a nationwide voter registration drive will begin today, targeting 108,946 unmarried women in Arkansas.

The drive is being run by the national organization Women’s Voices Women Vote, which expects to register close to 1 million women nationwide between now and election day, including 3,268 in Arkansas.

According to the most recent census data, unmarried women – women who are single, separated, divorced, or widowed – make up a growing percent of the population.

More than half of households nationwide are run by an unmarried woman, and unmarried are more than 445,800 of the total population in Arkansas.

Women’s Voices Women Vote has contacted the Arkansas election officials about the mailing to notify them to expect an increased number of registration forms that will need to be processed and to ensure the registration materials meet state standards.

WVWV will continue to work with election officials and do everything it can to ensure unmarried women are able to exercise their right to vote in this historic election. In the past, unmarried women in Arkansas and nationally have been underrepresented both in terms of registration and in actually showing up to vote.

In 2006, 180,215 unmarried women in Arkansas were eligible to register but did not; a further 102,055 were registered to vote but did not cast a ballot.

Nationally, unmarried women are 9 percentage points less likely to be registered than married women, and those who are registered are 13 percentage points less likely to actually vote. Nonetheless, so far in this election season, unmarried women have been increasingly engaged in the process and have been a decisive force in several primaries. Similarly, so far this year, WVWV has gotten record high response rates on its voter registration mailings, successfully generating more than 550,000 registration applications nationally this cycle.

In Arkansas alone, WVWV and its project, the Voter Participation Center, have generated more than 14,600 registration applications. For more state-specific numbers and to view statistics for other states visit the Women’s Voices Women Vote website.