Women have had the right to vote for 100 years. Here's why that vote matters this election.

Women wearing masks pose behind a voter registration table in Union Square in New York City.Alexi Rosenfeld/Getty Images

• Today marks the 100th anniversary of the 19th Amendment, when white women won the right to vote.
• It took decades longer until women became a major voting bloc, after women of color, notably Black women, gained greater voting access with the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
• Now, they are the largest in the country and have immensely changed the political sphere.
• Women voters are expected to play a key role in 2020, as they have made strides over the past four years since President Donald Trump's election.

After a hard-fought, decades-long battle for suffrage, women won the right to vote 100 years ago today when the 19th Amendment was ratified to the Constitution.

However, they did not become a major voting force for decades to come until women's political participation became more widely accepted culturally and women of color, notably Black women, gained greater voting access in 1965 with the Voting Rights Act.

Now, women are the center of the electorate. Candidates try to court the women vote and election experts discuss how to appeal to women voters. For the past 40 years, women have voted at higher rates than men in every presidential election and women represent the majority of registered voters. In the 2016 election, women cast nearly 10 million more ballots than men did.

Though the fight for political equality is far from over, women have dramatically changed the voting environment since 1920. Here are three facts to know about women voters ahead of 2020.