(U-WIRE) BOULDER, Colo. – The 22 million unmarried women who did not vote in the 2000 presidential election were the focus of the “V-Day is for Vote” rally in front of the Boulder (Colo.) County Courthouse Tuesday.

Vagina Monologues playwright and V-Day founder Eve Ensler, along with former Colorado State Sen. Dorothy Rupert and V-Day executive director Jerri Lynn Fields, spoke to a crowd of nearly 100 about why voting, particularly in this election, is so crucial for women.

“You will never have a more important election in your lifetime,” Ensler told the audience, primarily women. “… Every person in this rally here has the capacity to get 50 other people the polls.”

Since its 1998 inception, V-Day has been primarily a global movement to end violence against women and girls. The organization is now switching gears in launching a grass-roots voting campaign to get women to the polls in greater numbers this year. Ensler said she doesn’t think ending violence against women is a top priority for the Bush administration and suggested women vote for Democrat John Kerry.

“We can translate the desire to end violence against women as a vote,” she said. “… We can actually translate that into political power.”

The “V-Day is for Vote” campaign was in Florida and Ohio before this last tour stop in Boulder, said local organizer Emily Davis. She said V-Day personnel wanted to come specifically to Boulder, so she pulled together the events in just a few weeks.

“As Eve said, ending violence against women and ending violence in general is really something, that if we attack it and solve it, will be really important to all parts of our society and culture,” she said. “It would be a shame to pass up such an opportunity.”

University of Colorado regent at-large candidate Jennifer Mello attended the rally and said she is a strong advocate for ending violence against women at CU.

“I actually plan to be a strong voice for all students, including women, for their safety on campus,” she said.

-Erin Wiggins