Emma Watson: 'I wish I could vote in U.S. election'

British actress Emma Watson is having a difficult time "sitting on the sidelines" of the U.S. presidential election.

The Harry Potter star has been an avid supporter of women's rights and is a United Nations goodwill ambassador, but the 26-year-old is unable to vote in the upcoming election because she is not an American citizen.

However, she is urging U.S. women to head to the polls next month (Nov16), because she feels there is a lot at stake for all women.

"At times, politics may seem disillusioning, filled with rhetoric and smokescreens," she writes on Facebook. "However, regardless of our personal beliefs, it can’t be denied that the result of the upcoming US presidential election will have ripple effects around the world and impact, in one way or another, the lives of millions and millions of people."

"America is my second home," she continues. "I have friends there that I think of as family. It has been excruciating to sit on the sidelines in the months leading up to this election. Goodness, I wish I could cast a vote. We know one of the most reliable indicators of peace and prosperity, nationally and globally, is not a country's level of wealth, democracy, or ethno-religious identity; but how well its women and girls are treated..."

The actress goes on to explain that America's next leader will have to tackle equality among the sexes in the country.

"The next president will be able to make decisions about women, about their bodies, about how they are treated at work, on university campuses and at school, about how men treat women and about their rights as citizens," she continues. "These decisions affect how young people form their ideas of gender.

"These decisions will affect whether we believe equality is an idea that matters. In 2014, I tweeted Desmond Tutu's quote: "Men and boys, we show our manhood by how we treat our women”. The American men I know and love know this. They know that the way a man treats women can't be overlooked or brushed aside."

And she stresses women hold the power to determine if former U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump will become president.

"In the last US election, 70 million women cast ballots versus 60 million men," she adds. "Women, your vote could swing this election. Please go out and vote on the 8th of November. Read up on both sides of your state propositions (if you have any). You have real power to decide the future of generations to come."