Sandra Fluke named candidate for Time's 100 most influential people

March 30, 2012

Women's rights advocate and law student Sandra Fluke has been named as a candidate for Time magazine's 100 most influential people in the world. The list is released annually as a special edition of Time magazine, titled .

Time announced the candidates as part of a ballot process which began Thursday, and solicited votes from the public via the Internet. Visitors to its website were requested to select "the leaders, artists, innovators, icons and heroes that they think are the most influential people in the world." The winner of the poll as selected by visitors to the Time website will be featured in the Time 100 issue, and the magazine's editors pick those individuals showcased on the actual complete list of 100.

In its entry for Fluke, Time characterized her as a "law student and political activist". She gave testimony to the US Congress on February 23 before the on a hearing about  and.

When contacted by Time, Fluke commented that though she has faced attacks in the media, she did not regret her actions: "I would do this again, because these issues are that important to me."

In addition to Sandra Fluke, other influential women named as candidates for the Time 100 list include Queen Elizabeth II; comedian and ; musicians, ,  and ; ' creator and star ; and actresses  and  of the film '.

Online voting for the poll winner closes April 6; Time will release the full list of Time 100 on April 17.