June Marks Milestone For Women's Suffrage
Tuesday, June 4 marked the 100-year anniversary of the U.S. Senate passing the 19th Amendment, which guaranteed that the right to vote shall not be denied on the basis of sex. The constitutional amendment was then sent to the states to be ratified, 36 of whom needed to ratify for it to become enshrined in the constitution. It would take until August 1920 for the amendment to be fully ratified, but much of the struggle began over 150 years earlier.
In July 1848, a convention was called to discuss “the social, civil, and religious condition of woman” in the small village of Seneca Falls, N.Y. This convention attracted national attention and, along with the Declaration of Sentiments released after the meeting, is seen as the launching point of the national women’s suffrage movement in the United States
Although the 19th Amendment is a nationally celebrated event in the timeline of women’s suffrage, many states and territories gave women the right to vote prior to 1920. According to the original constitution of the state of New Jersey, voting rights were granted to “all inhabitants of this colony, of full age, who are worth fifty pounds … and have resided within the county … for twelve months.” In 1790 the language was further clarified to “he or she.” But in 1807, the state legislature passed new legislation restricting suffrage to tax-paying, white male citizens.
Indeed, the first women to serve in a state legislature were elected before 1920. Clara Cressingham, Carrie Holly and Frances Klock, all from Colorado, were elected in 1894, the year after Colorado passed legislation allowing women to vote and a full 26 years before women could vote nationally.
On the national level, Wisconsin, Illinois, and Michigan were the first three states to ratify the 19th Amendment on June 10, 1919. By the summer of 1920, 35 states had ratified the amendment, eight states had rejected it, and five more states had not voted on the issue. Alaska and Hawaii were not yet states. It was at this time that all eyes fell on Tennessee.
During a special summer session called in 1920, the 19th Amendment easily passed the Tennessee Senate but, in the House, the vote was a tie: 48 for, 48 against. During the subsequent roll call vote, Representative Harry T. Burn, upon the advice given to him by his mother, changed his vote, thereby breaking the tie and solidifying Tennessee as the 36th state to ratify the amendment. On Aug. 24, 1920, Tennessee Governor Albert H. Roberts certified Tennessee’s ratification of the amendment, making it the law of the land.
In celebration of the ratification of the 19th Amendment, NCSL’s Women's Legislative Network announced their Suffrage Amendment State History (SASH) Campaign. The goal of the campaign is to highlight the facts and provide information about suffragists from all states, recognizing their tireless work on this historic occasion. The Women's Network is proud to celebrate all the women who have contributed to American democracy in so many significant ways.
As the nostalgic School House Rock song states, women “were suffering until suffrage.” But since the passage of the 19th Amendment: “And now we pull down on the lever, Cast our ballots and we endeavor, To improve our country, state, county, town, and school.“
Legislative Update
“It Ain’t Over ‘til it’s Over.” Summertime usually means summer breaks, but that’s not the case for all state legislatures. Many states have concluded their legislative sessions (over two-thirds at this time), but a few are still working hard and passing election legislation. Below is a sample of election legislation that was enacted in the month of June.
Alabama SB 128: Permits voters to take “ballot selfies”, but otherwise prohibits taking a photograph or revealing any other voters ballot.
Hawaii HB 1248: Requires all statwide elections be conducted by mail, starting with the 2020 primary election.
Louisiana HB 30: Adds a U.S. military ID, with signed name and picture, as an acceptable form of voter identification in addition to a driver’s license or other state-issued ID.
Maine HB 756: Requires the Secretary of State to conduct a study of the best practices in post-election audits and recounts. The Secretary of State must produce and present a report to the legislature’s joint standing committee by Dec. 6, 2023.
Maine HB 1070: Requires the Bureau of Motor Vehicles and other designated “source agencies” to automatically register an eligible individual to vote, unless they opt-out during the process. The bill also appropriates funds in fiscal year 2020-2021.
Nevada SB 123: Among a plethora of election code changes, SB 123 requires the Secretary of State to adopt regulations to conduct risk-limiting audits. Each county will be required to conduct a risk-limiting audit prior to the certification results.
Oregon SB 870: With the passage of SB 870, Oregon becomes the 16th jurisdiction (15 states plus D.C.) to join the National Popular Vote Compact. This brings the total of electoral college votes of the combined states to 196; if and when states with 270 electoral votes have joined the NPV compact, it would be activated.
Texas HB 1130: The Texas Department of Motor Vehicles can now issue specialty “Register to Vote” license plates. After the deduction of administrative costs, the remainder of the funds are to be credited to an account. The Texas Secretary of State may access and use the account funds for their Project V.O.T.E. education program.
Texas HB 1421: HB 1421 requires the Secretary of State to identify, classify and protect election data and to establish best practices for reducing the risk of the electronic use, storage and transmission of that data. It further requires their office to conduct annual training on those best practices and cybersecurity more generally.
Worth Noting
The 2018 Election Administration and Voting Survey (EAVS) Report is here!
The U.S. Election Assistance Commission (EAC) released its 2018 Election Administration and Voting Survey report. New in this year’s survey are updated questions on voting equipment, election policy, and cybersecurity. Some interesting findings include:
- 52% of Americans voted in the 2018 election, a full 15.5 percentage points higher than 2014.
- Mail voting accounted for a quarter of voters in 2018.
- Electronic poll books use by jurisdictions increased by over 50% from 2014 to 2018.
- Over 90% of election jurisdictions use paper ballots or voting machines that produce a paper record.
MIT Audit Release
In Dec. 2018, the Caltech/MIT Voting Technology Project and the MIT Election Lab gathered an interdisciplinary group of professionals and the public to discuss post-election auditing at the Election Audit Summit. Presenters contributed to the discussion about audits, their importance, their processes, and how to continue improving them. Recently the Voting Technology Project released a report of the summit highlighting key themes, providing materials, and summarizing most of the presentations. It can be found here.
Global Cyber Alliance (GCA) Toolkit Release
The Global Cyber Alliance released a new election security toolkit designed for the media, journalists, “elections offices and community organizations as they prepare for the 2020 U.S. presidential election.” It was adapted from the GCA’s well-received Cybersecurity Toolkit for Small Business that was released in February to address the specific needs of states and local government election officials. This new toolkit intends to lower cyber risk to ensure the legitimacy of elections and democracy and is available for free. The toolkit and more information from GCA can be found here.
South Carolina switches to paper-based voting system
In early June South Carolina announced a statewide move to a new voting system. This change comes from a need to update the previous voting software, which was 15 years old. Also, the use of printed ballot trails will support post-election auditing processes. This new voting technology will be implemented in South Carolina in all elections after Jan. 1, 2020.
NGOs in Utah push towards registering 20,000 new women voters
According to 2016 and 2018 census reports, there are around 300,000 women who are eligible to vote, but are not registered, in Utah. In honor of the 150th anniversary of women’s suffrage in the state, several organizations and community partners have set a goal of registering 20,000 new women voters for the 2020 elections.
NFL Foundation grant to help register ex-felon voters in Louisiana
On Friday, March 1, Louisiana HB 636 (2018) went into effect, allowing any former inmates who had been out of prison for more than five years to vote. This changed previous laws that only allowed those who had completed their sentence—be it time in prison, probation, and/or parole—to vote. To support this new legislation, the NFL Foundation gave a $100,000 grant to a New Orleans-based organization Voice of the Experienced (VOTE), that will use the money to help former inmates register to vote statewide. This change could impact more than 36,000 Louisiana citizens.
Your Monthly Dose of “I Voted Sticker” News
The New York City Board of Elections has rolled out a new “I Voted” sticker featuring the city skyline. This change, however, has not been welcomed by everyone, as the previous design displaying a map of the NYC subway system was well-loved. In Florida, Manatee County revealed its new, exclusive 2020 election year “I Voted Sticker.” The design was created by a State College of Florida student. And what have “I Voted Stickers” ever done for you? If you voted in the Kansas City municipal election on June 18th (and are at least 21 years old) Boulevard Brewing was willing to give you a free 5-ounce beer.
From the NCSL Elections Team
The Elections and Redistricting team has grown by two this summer as we welcome summer interns Drew Marvel, of William & Mary Law School, and Theresa Nelson, of Stanford. We’re excited they are here and you can expect to see more of their work throughout the summer.
We are rapidly approaching our 2019 Legislative Summit, Aug. 5-8, in Nashville, Tenn. We have a full agenda with topics including elections as infrastructure, how DMVs fit into elections and other top issues.
And as always, let us know what’s on your mind, elections-related or otherwise.
Dylan Lynch and Wendy Underhill