Nineteenth Amendment: Women's right to vote

The Nineteenth Amendment says the right to vote can't be denied "on account of sex." Women had argued that the Fourteenth Amendment already protected their vote. In 1875 the Supreme Court disagreed, so it took a separate amendment, ratified in 1920. California figures in the story twice: a California senator first proposed the wording, and California voters gave women the vote in 1911, nine years before the nation did.

The text

The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.

Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.

Source: National Archives transcription Verified1

What it says

• "Shall not be denied or abridged ... on account of sex." The amendment doesn't hand anyone the vote. It forbids using sex as a reason to deny or weaken it. The Court later said it "applies to men and women alike and by its own force supersedes inconsistent measures, whether federal or state" (Breedlove v. Suttles, 302 U.S. 277 (1937)) Verified5.
• "By the United States or by any State." It binds every level of government, including cities, because cities act under state authority.
• Enforcement. "Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation" Verified1.

History

• 1872: Susan B. Anthony. "In the 1872 presidential election, Susan B. Anthony cast a ballot in Rochester, New York. She was arrested and charged with illegally voting in violation of federal law" Verified3. A court fined her $100, "but she never paid it" Verified3.
• 1875: Minor v. Happersett. Virginia Minor sued after a Missouri registrar refused to register her. The Court held that "the Constitution, when it conferred citizenship, did not necessarily confer the right of suffrage" (Minor v. Happersett, 88 U.S. 162 (1875)) Verified2.
• 1878: A California senator. "In 1878, Senator Aaron Sargent of California introduced a joint resolution proposing an amendment" barring restrictions on the vote "on account of sex" Verified3. Those words became the amendment's text.
• The western states move first. "A few western state governments accorded women full or partial voting rights," starting with the Territory of Wyoming in 1869 Verified3.
• 1911: California votes yes. The measure lost in the San Francisco Bay Area and "just barely passed in Los Angeles." Then "late reports from the rural counties began to swing the vote." The final count was "125,037 to 121,450, making California the 6th state in the nation to give women the right to vote" Verified4.
• 1917–1920: Congress, then the states. "In December 1917, Representative John E. Raker of California reintroduced the joint resolution" Verified3. Congress passed it in 1919, and it was ratified August 18, 1920 Verified1.

How courts read it

• Leser v. Garnett (1922). Maryland voters challenged the amendment. Ratification had been "proclaimed on August 26, 1920," and "The Legislature of Maryland had refused to ratify it" (Leser v. Garnett, 258 U.S. 130 (1922)) Verified6. The Court compared it with the Fifteenth Amendment, adopted the same way: "One cannot be valid and the other invalid" Verified6.
• Breedlove v. Suttles (1937). This was "the only significant case addressing the Amendment's effect." The Court upheld a Georgia poll tax that exempted women who didn't register Verified3. The poll-tax part of Breedlove was later overruled. See Twenty-fourth Amendment.
• "Political equality." In striking down Georgia's county-unit vote system, the Court said the Nineteenth Amendment stands for "political equality" and illustrates "one person, one vote" Verified3.

In Williams

• Every local election. The amendment applies to Williams City Council races, local measures, and school and county elections, as well as state and federal ones.
• California's own rule. Article II, §2 of the state constitution says: "A United States citizen 18 years of age and resident in this State may vote" Verified7. Sex isn't part of the test.
• Equal districts locally. The one-person, one-vote principle reaches local governments. A government with "general governmental powers over an entire geographic area" can't use districts "of substantially unequal population" (Avery v. Midland County, 390 U.S. 474 (1968)) Verified8.
• How Colusa County voted. The State Archives page says rural counties swung the 1911 vote Verified4. The official 1911 statement of vote shows Colusa County voters approved the suffrage amendment narrowly, 438 yes to 427 no Verified9. It reports counties, not towns, so it doesn't show how Williams itself voted.

Common misconceptions

• "The Nineteenth gave all women the vote." It barred sex discrimination in voting. Other barriers, like poll taxes and literacy tests, kept many women (and men) from voting for decades afterward. See the Twenty-fourth Amendment.
• "Women couldn't vote anywhere before 1920." Wyoming, California and other states got there first Verified3,4.
• "It only protects women." It "applies to men and women alike" Verified5.

Check yourself

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