August 26th marked the 9oth anniversary of the 19th Amendment to the United States constitution. The 19th Amendment prohibits each state and the federal government from denying any citizen the right to vote based on the citizen’s sex.
It says “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 the account of sex. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.”
This whole process started with the womens suffrage movement. Which basically was to allow women rights. Any rights be it property rights, the right to keep their own wages, to get a divorce, the right to not be beat everyday by your husband. Things we can’t even image having to live with or put up with today.
President Woodrow Wilson announced his support on January 9,1918. The House of Representatives voted for it the next day but the Senate refused to debate it until October. After the 1918 midterm elections the House and Senate voted for the 19th Amendment. It took two more years for 36 states to ratify the Amendment. On August 26,1920 then Secretary of State Banbridge Colby certified the Amendment. Oklahoma was the 33rd state to ratify on February 28,1920.
The Amendment’s validity was challenged in 1922 “Leser v Garnett”. The United States Supreme Court rejected all the arguments and held that the Amendment was properly adopted and was part of the constitution.
We’re about to make history again 90 years after women won the right to vote here in Oklahoma we will elect our first female Governor.
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