Meghan Markle Addressed Voter Suppression During Her Latest Speaking Engagement

Teaming up with When We All Vote, Meghan Markle urged Americans to register to vote, cast their ballots, and make their voices heard during this November's election. In a video filmed in her new Montecito home, Markle addressed voter suppression and acknowledged the unique situation that many are finding themselves in with the idea of the COVID-19 pandemic keeping people from polling places and questions about the United States Postal Service being able to handle mail-in ballots.

"We all know what’s at stake this year. I know it," she began. "Today, we are watching so many women in different communities who are marginalized still struggling to see that right [to vote] come to fruition, and that is — it's just simply not okay."

Markle continued, saying that it's important to have women's voices heard so that progress can be made. But she doesn't put the responsibility solely on women, she added a powerful message to everyone who's apathetic or simply choosing not to vote because they don't like the options: "If you're complacent, you're complicit."

"And we look at the attempts of voter suppression and what that's doing, it's all the more reason we need each of you to be out there supporting each other, to understand that this fight is worth fighting, and we all have to be out there mobilizing to have our voices heard," she continued. "So you know it's interesting we are obviously faced with a lot of problems in our world right now, both in the physical world and in the digital world. But we can and must do everything we can to ensure all women have their voices heard. Because at this juncture, if we aren’t part of the solution, we are part of the problem. If you aren't going out there and voting, then you're complicit. If you're complacent, you're complicit."

She ended her speech reminding voters that they're not just voting for change to come with the next administration. This election, she insists, has ramifications for a long time. And the only way to make sure things change, she says, is to vote.

"In the fraught moment that we find our nation, exercising your right to vote isn't simply being part of a solution, it's being part of a legacy."

The When We All Vote #CouchParty didn't just feature Markle. The event also included board chair Valerie Jarrett, actor and activist Yvette Nicole Brown, Glamour editor-in-chief Samantha Barry, and DJ Diamond Kuts. The talks set out to celebrate women of color "who have fought to make the promise of the 19th Amendment a reality for ALL women, and highlight the need to expand voting rights for marginalized communities," Entertainment Tonight notes.