1000 Flowers is a bunch of ordinary citizens who want more from our democracy and worked hard to get it during the 2004 election. This website is currently an archive of our non-partisan "Nail the Election" campaign in 2004, showing how we registered and activated single women to vote through hair, nail, and beauty salons across the country. Follow the links to the left to learn more (please bear in mind that the material on these sub-pages was last updated in early November, 2004).

In February of 2004, we learned that 22 million single women did not vote in the 2000 election, and that 16 million of those women didn't even register to vote. We figured out that if these unmarried women actually registered and turned out to vote in 2004, they could determine who would be the next President.

We developed "Voter Registration Beauty Kits" that included voter registration forms, nail files printed with catchy slogans, a poster urging women to "Vote -- These are Cuticle Times" and postcards listing five reasons why women should vote. The colorful displays and nail file giveaways caught women's attention with slogans like "Don't let this election be a nailbiter -- Vote Nov. 2!" The idea was to make it easy for women to register right at the salon or on-line at our website.

Thanks to your efforts -- and those of thousands of others across the country -- the turnout in the 2004 election was the highest in decades. More than seven million additional single women voters turned out to vote than in the 2000 election! According to research done by Greenberg, Quinlan, Rosner Research, Inc. for Women’s Voices, Women Vote (www.wvwv.org), exit polls show that unmarried women comprised 22-23 percent of the 2004 electorate, an increase from the 19 percent in the 2000 election. Nevertheless, unmarried women remain the largest demographic group underrepresented at the polls.

We are proud of 1000 Flowers’s successes. We estimate that we registered 20,000 new voters. We attracted extensive media coverage that raised public awareness of the importance of single women voters. We built a network of volunteers, salons, and businesses interested in empowering women voters. And we strengthened grassroots citizen activism.

We extend our heartfelt thanks and appreciation to our supporters, volunteers, salons, and ordinary citizens who made this work so fun and effective. We hope our democracy continues to grow and blossom!