Meghan Markle has spending a lot of her time and energy into getting out the vote since she moved back to the United States earlier this year. She even teamed up with feminist icon Gloria Steinem to cold call voters and encourage them to show up to the polls in November.

“Meg is herself smart, authentic, funny, political. She came home to vote,” Steinem recently told Access Hollywood. “And the first thing we did, and why she came to see me, was we sat at the dining room table here—where I am right now—and cold-called voters. And said, ‘Hello, I’m Meg,’ and ‘Hello, I’m Gloria,’ and ‘Are you going to vote?’ That was her initiative.”

Though Meghan hasn't publicly endorsed a candidate for the presidential election, she's made it clear that she will be voting this year. Not only will she be casting her vote, she'll also be making history as the first member of the British royal family to publicly exercise their right to vote. While there is no official rule or law that forbids members of the extended royal family from voting in elections, they choose to opt out and remain neutral.

Unlike the Duchess of Sussex, however, there actually is a rule in place that forbids the reigning monarch from voting. "As Head of State The Queen has to remain strictly neutral with respect to political matters. By convention, The Queen does not vote or stand for election, however Her Majesty does have important ceremonial and formal roles in relation to the government of the UK, "the official royal website states.

"I know what it's like to have a voice, and also what it's like to feel voiceless. I also know that so many men and women have put their lives on the line for us to be heard. And the opportunity, that fundamental right, is in our ability to exercise our right to vote and to make all of our voices heard," Meghan explained to Marie Claire in August . "One of my favorite quotes, and one that my husband and I have referred to often, is from Kate Sheppard, a leader in the suffragist movement in New Zealand, who said, 'Do not think your single vote does not matter much. The rain that refreshes the parched ground is made up of single drops.' That's why I vote."

Meghan's dedication to using her influence to get out the vote has even inspired Steinem, who was a founder of the women's liberation movement. “She is such an inspiration to me, because she has a kind of stereotype hanging over her head, which is princess,” Steinem told Access Hollywood. “The whole idea of princess is a problem. We had a whole revolution to get rid of royalty.”

Though Meghan will be exercising her right to vote as an American citizen later this year, it's unlikely that Prince Harry will vote in any upcoming elections across the pond.

Photo: Getty

Theresa Lucas

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