SUFFS teams up with Register Her in Charlotte to inspire more women to register to vote
Mar 2, 2026 / Blog
When Rachael Jeck speaks about the musical SUFFS, her eyes light up.
Jeck, who is the co-founder and executive director of Register Her — a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization dedicated to increasing women’s participation in the electoral process — says the show had been on her radar for a while, thanks to enthusiastic friends in New York.
But finally getting to see the SUFFS national tour in L.A., her hometown, in late 2025 was another experience altogether.
(Rachael Jeck, Register Her Co-Founder and Executive Director)
“From the moment I walked in, I thought, it is exactly the work of Register Her and why Register Her exists.”
The show felt like a call to action, she says. Something her husband and 23 year old daughter both felt as well, watching the performance.
Jeck was also surprised, as someone who works daily in the field, how much she learned through the musical about the real women who organized more than a century ago and the profound struggle they faced to obtain the right to vote.
(Marya Grandy (Carrie Chapman Catt) and company in the First National Touring Company of SUFFS. Photo by Joan Marcus, 2025.)
“We all take so much for granted,” Jeck says. “It’s not that long ago when it seemed like it wouldn’t happen.”
She noticed how engaged the audience was and open to learning the stories of the brave women who took to the streets and emerged as leaders in the final years leading up to the ratification of the 19th amendment in 1920.
Marching, picketing, organizing, these women continued the battle for equality at the ballot box that had begun more than 70 years earlier.
About the musical
Much of the action in Act I of SUFFS takes place on and around March 3, 1913 when thousands of women marched down Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington D.C., the day before the inauguration of President Woodrow Wilson. Women came from all around the country to demand the right to vote.
Their heroic efforts are brought to life by the two time Tony AwardⓇ-winning musical, SUFFS (March 10 - 15, Belk Theater), which garnered wins for both Best Book and Best Score in 2024. (That in itself was another history-making moment: SUFFS’ playwright and composer Shaina Taub was the first woman to individually win both Tony AwardsⓇ in a single year!)
The musical dives into the generational, socio-economic and racial divides that women navigated — and the thorny moral and strategic questions they debated on how best to proceed. In the end, Black women had to wait nearly another half century until their rights were guaranteed and protected through the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
There’s rich, multi-faceted history here but that’s not all.
Variety calls SUFFS, “thrilling, inspiring and dazzlingly entertaining” and New York magazine hails it as “smart, witty, tuneful and teeming with mighty performances.”
What is Register Her?
“We are Suffs 2.0,” says Jeck, who oversees the organization that operates in seven states, including North Carolina.
Jeck says SUFFS delves into one step toward the march of equality in elections and government, but challenges still remain.
“We’re not represented in government the way we should be,” she says.
In Congress, for example, 28.65% of the elected members are women, whereas the gender breakdown across the U.S. is nearly even between men and women. (Women actually outnumber men slightly.)
Overall, women actually do vote in higher numbers than men, Jecks says, but tens of millions are not participating.
It’s these potential voters, often from marginalized communities, who Register Her is trying to reach.
While frequent voters are often bombarded with reminders about elections, women who don’t vote regularly or never have voted are practically invisible when it comes to election time.
According to the Pew Research Center, 62% of adult Americans never get asked to vote.
Register Her is working to change that.
What Register Her does
The group partners with established, trusted community organizations to reach women in their own communities. These organizations provide nonpartisan resources, education and support to ensure women know their rights and the power of their own voices. Register Her aims to reach women — especially those from underrepresented groups — wherever they are, from community colleges and university campuses to food pantries and low cost legal service providers.
[Register Her will be onsite at Belk Theater during the run of SUFFS. More details below.]
Register Her also works with social service providers like Head Start and housing assistance programs to ensure people connecting day-to-day with women have the civic education training and resources to speak to their clients about the importance of voting and how it connects with their own lives.
In 2024, Register Her funded 60+ Community Fellow positions, selected by their partnering community organizations. Fellows focused at least 50% of their time on outreach efforts to women.
In NC, 13 Fellows that year had nearly 7,000 conversations with women about voting.
And across the country, fellows engaged in more than 20,000 one-on-one conversations with women in their communities, which led to thousands of new voter registrations.
The group also provides quick and easy online resources, like Civics in a Minute posts on Instagram, and a new Substack newsletter with short posts on current issues that affect voters and debunking myths with factual information.
Boosting youth voter registration is also a key priority. It’s not that they’re not engaged, Jeck says.
“Youth are passionate about issues and voice their views by protesting and posting on social media. However, many of them are cynical about politics and don't see voting as a means to create systemic change. We need to help them connect the dots between their passion for issues and voting.”
Why does gender parity in politics matter?
Jeck says there is data to support that a balance in gender representation is good for everyone. In the U.S. senate, for example, one study shows over the course of a seven year period women legislated more than their male counterparts and cosponsored more bills across party lines than men.
And in Nevada, one of three states with a women majority legislature, they have “passed significant bipartisan legislation to improve lives of women and their families,” Jeck says.
Those include passing legislation on issues like:
- Ensuring those who breastfeed are not discriminated against.
- Removing antiquated informed consent laws for certain medical procedures — such as asking women for their age or marital status before treatment.
- Expanding access to more affordable housing.
What can you do?
Jeck says after seeing this inspiring show, some audience members may wonder, “If I’m already voting, what can I do?”
She suggests:
- Stay informed, make sure your voter registration is current and remember to vote.
- Encourage your friends and family to check their registrations, see if they need help finding information on elections, and remind them to vote.
- If you’re interested in other get out the vote initiatives, she says there are lots of opportunities from local community organizations to get involved. Register Her enlists volunteer support for “women to women” GOTV texting before elections, using the Mobilize app.
“People often say they don't vote because they are ‘not political,’ Jeck says. “We tell everyone, we are all political because every part of our day is affected by politics.
“If you turn on a light switch in the morning, heat your home, put gas in your car, have pre-k options for your children, green spaces in your neighborhood, all of those things are the result of policies made by elected officials...ones in which they have (or should have) a say."
(First National Touring Company of SUFFS. Photo by Joan Marcus, 2025.)
Want to find out more?
→ Stop by the Register Her info table in the lobby at the Thurs, March 12 performance.
→ Register Her will also moderate a post-show talkback following the Thurs, March 12 show.
For tickets and more information on SUFFS, click here!
