"The most basic form of participation is voting," says Jennet Robinson Alterman, director of the Center for Women. "The way women in South Carolina can have an impact has to start at the polls."

To this end, Alterman and the Center for Women spearheaded the organization of a coalition of women’s groups with the aim of encouraging women to exercise their right to vote. Lowcountry Women Vote is a nonpartisan coalition made up of the American Association of University Women, the Center for Women, the Charleston chapters of Links, Continental Societies, NOW, Hadassah of Charleston, the Junior League of Charleston, Women Making a Difference, and the local area League of Women Voters.

Statistics show that 57 percent of women who are registered to vote actually went to the polls last year. But the statistics drop off when it comes to younger women. Of those between the ages of 22 and 44, only 48 percent voted. For those between the ages of 18 and 21, only 27 percent voted last year. To top it all off, South Carolina ranks 50th in the nation for having women representatives in our congressional delegation with a grand total of zero, and we also are last when it comes to state legislators — less than 10 percent of our state decision-makers are women.

This is where Lowcountry Women Vote comes in. "The coalition came together for one very basic reason," says Alterman. "And that was to encourage women to exercise their right to political participation by voting. Not how to vote or who to vote for, but to vote."

The coalition started last year with a billboard and media campaign to remind women to get out and vote. The billboards were placed in areas where female participation had been low. Editorials also were run in major media outlets to encourage women to vote and to remind young women of how hard won this right to vote had been.

Expanding on this theme, Lowcountry Women Vote, along with the magazine Skirt! and the women’s studies department at the College of Charleston, will sponsor a showing of HBO’s original movie "Iron Jawed Angels," starring Hilary Swank, Lucy Burns, Julia Ormand and Anjelica Huston. The showing will be Aug. 26, the 84th anniversary of the certification of the ratification of the 19th Amendment which gave women the right to vote. One week earlier, in 1920, Tennessee became the 36th and last state needed to ratify this amendment. South Carolina did not ratify the amendment until 1969.

The film portrays the fight for women’s suffrage from the point of view of the younger generation, notably the work of Alice Paul and Lucy Burns. Despite being thrown into jail, enduring force feedings and horrible conditions, they believed in a woman’s right to have a political voice and finally their voices were heard. This movie has been hailed by critics and viewers for its portrayal of the suffrage struggle and its timeliness in reminding women of what it took to get this right.

Recently the writers of the film — Sally Robinson, Eugenia Bostwick Singer, Raymond Singer and Jennifer Friedes — were nominated for the Humanitas Prize. This prize is given "to encourage, stimulate and s ustain writers in their humanizing task and to give them the recognition they deserve."

The "Iron Jawed Angels" event will take place at the Physicians Auditorium at the College of Charleston and is free.

Lowcountry Women Vote will continue to encourage women to vote and participate in the election process either by running for office, working at the polls or encouraging others to vote. "If you want to get involved and are not a member of one of these organizations, then offer to volunteer," says Alterman. "Or volunteer to be a poll worker. But the most important way to get involved is to educate yourself about the issues and where candidates stand on the issues before going to the polls."

"And take a friend with you when you go to vote," she says.

For more information on Lowcountry Women Vote and its activities, check out the Center for Women Web site at www.c4women.org.

WHAT: Lowcountry Women Vote presentation of HBO’s "Iron Jawed Angels."

WHEN: Aug. 26, 7 p.m.

WHERE: Physicians Auditorium at the College of Charleston

HOW MUCH: Free, first come, first served.