Emma Watson says she wishes she could vote in election
There’s one privilege many of Emma Watson’s fans enjoy that the “Harry Potter” star doesn’t: voting in the U.S.
The British actress posted a plea on Twitter to women in the U.S. to go to the polls on Election Day.
“America is my second home. I have friends there that I think of as family,” she wrote. “Goodness, I wish I could cast a vote.”
She pointed out that the outcome of the American presidential election has an effect not just on the U.S., but on the world.
“At times, politics may seem disillusioning, filled with rhetoric and smokescreens,” she said. “However, regardless of our personal beliefs, it can’t be denied that the result of the upcoming U.S. presidential election will have ripple effects around the world and impact, in one way or another, the lives of millions and millions of people.”
She pointed out that many of these people are women.
“The next president will be able to make decisions about women, about their bodies, about how they are treated at work, on university campuses and at school, about how men treat women and about their rights as citizens,” she wrote. “These decisions affect how young people form their ideas of gender. These decisions will affect whether we believe equality is an idea that matters.”
Watson has been very outspoken about women’s rights. She gave a powerful speech at the U.N. about gender equality in 2014, saying, “I think it is right that socially, I am afforded the same respect as men.” In September, Watson elicited whoops and cheers when she referenced the possibility of Hillary Clinton winning the U.S. presidential elections at the U.N.’s HeForShe gender equality event.
— Emma Watson (@EmWatson) October 25, 2016