Cokie Roberts, co-host of “This Week with Sam Donaldson and Cokie Roberts,” spoke about women in political offices and women as voters, at the Louisiana Center for Women and Government’s eighth annual Hall of Fame Luncheon and Induction Saturday. Roberts discussed what happened when women finally had the opportunity to vote.

When women first got the right to vote, the anticipation of failure came to be true.

“Women either didn’t vote or they voted the same as the men,” she said.

Because of women’s failure to vote, it was a long time before legislation for equality was passed.

“A man from Virginia put in the word sex, as a killer amendment to the bill, to end discrimination,” Roberts said.

“However, the bill passed, and it made discrimination on sex and race illegal.”

Roberts recalled when she was in college, and it was legal to not hire women simply because they were women.

“This bill changed the way I lived, and the way all women live today,” she said.

Not until the 1980s did women show up at the polls to vote, and vote differently than men, Roberts said.

“Politicians finally took notice to women. Maybe we (politicians) should pay attention to the ladies,” she said.

Roberts said women’s vote tends to be democratic, which has everything to do with the role of government, because women get government programs.

She also said many women, like her mother Lindy Boggs, took over their husbands position, after their husbands died in office.

“Women who have taken on this role in government have shown that the job can get done, opening the door for others,” Roberts said.

“Women are the ones who are making the changes in government through lobbying,” she said.

“I’m thrilled to see the expansion of women in government, and hope to see it continue to grow,” Roberts said.