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California Proposition 4, Women's Suffrage Amendment (October 1911)
| California Proposition 4 | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Election date October 10, 1911 | |
| Topic Suffrage | |
Status Approved | |
| Type Constitutional amendment | Origin State legislature |
California Proposition 4 was on the ballot as a legislatively referred constitutional amendment in California on October 10, 1911. It was approved.
A "yes" vote supported this state constitutional amendment to provide women with the right to vote. |
A "no" vote opposed this state constitutional amendment to provide women with the right to vote. |
Election results
|
California Proposition 4 |
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|---|---|---|---|---|
| Result | Votes | Percentage | ||
|
|
125,037 | 50.73% | ||
| No | 121,450 | 49.27% | ||
Text of measure
Ballot title
The ballot title for Proposition 4 was as follows:
| “ | Rights of Suffrage (Permitting Women to Vote). | ” |
Ballot summary
The ballot summary for this measure was:
| “ | Senate Constitutional Amendment No 8., a resolution proposing to the people of the state of California an amendment to the constitution of the State of California, amending section 1 of article II of the constitution in relation to the rights of suffrage. | ” |
Full Text
The full text of this measure is available here.
Background
State women's suffrage ballot measures
- See also: State women's suffrage ballot measures
The 19th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution was ratified on August 18, 1920. The 19th Amendment prohibited the government from denying or abridging the right to vote on account of sex. Therefore, women were guaranteed the right to vote in the U.S. Constitution.
Before the 19th Amendment, the women's suffrage movement also campaigned for changes to state constitutions to provide women with a right to vote. Suffragists Carrie Chapman Catt and Nettie Rogers Shuler, in their book Woman Suffrage and Politics (1923), wrote that state ballot measures "spun the main thread of suffrage activity" in the movement's earlier years and were seen as stepping stones to national suffrage. "I don't know the exact number of States we shall have to have," said Susan B. Anthony, "but I do know that there will come a day when that number will automatically and resistlessly act on the Congress of the United States to compel the submission of a federal suffrage amendment." When asked about federal support for women's suffrage in 1908, President Theodore Roosevelt advised the suffrage movement to "Go, get another State."[1]
Between 1867 and August 18, 1920, 54 ballot measures to grant women's suffrage were on the ballot in 30 states. Fifteen (15) of the ballot measures were approved, giving women the right to vote in 15 states. Since women did not have suffrage until after the ballot measures were approved, male voters decided the outcome of suffrage ballot measures.
Map of states that voted on suffrage ballot measures
The following is a map of which states approved and which states rejected women's suffrage ballot measures before the 19th Amendment. Suffrage was on the ballot at least once in 30 of 48 states (Alaska and Hawaii were not states until 1959). Of the 15 states that passed suffrage ballot measures, eight failed to pass measures on their first attempts. In Oregon and South Dakota, for example, suffrage measures were placed before voters at six elections before one was passed. In Utah and Wyoming, voters decided and approved women's suffrage as one provision of a ballot measure to adopt a state constitution. You can click on a state to learn more about the number of women's suffrage ballot measures that were voted on and in what years in that state.
Path to the ballot
- See also: Amending the California Constitution
A two-thirds vote was needed in each chamber of the California State Legislature to refer the constitutional amendment to the ballot for voter consideration.
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Catt, Carrie Chapman and Nettie Rogers Shuler. (1923). Woman Suffrage and Politics: The Inner Story of the Suffrage Movement. New York, New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. (pages 149-150)
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