Marking 100 years of women voting | Guest Opinion

The United States will celebrate Women’s Equality Day on August 26, which marks the 1920 adoption of the Nineteenth Amendment (Amendment XIX) to the United States Constitution.

This historic moment 100 years ago gave women the right to vote at state and federal levels.

According to the website of the Washington Secretary of State, Washington has played a prominent role in the history of voting, and in particular, women’s right to vote.

In 1776, while the U.S. Constitution was being formed and ratified, the right to vote was controlled by the individual states and only white men aged 21 and older, who were also land owners, were allowed to vote.

Almost a century later, following the Civil War in 1868, the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution granted full citizenship, including voting rights to all men born or naturalized in the United States.

In 1870, the Fifteenth Amendment eliminated racial barriers to voting, although many states continued voter discrimination tactics such as poll taxes, literacy tests, fraud and intimidation. Native Americans were still denied the right to vote — as were women.

By the turn of the 20th Century, the Suffragette Movement, which had started in 1848, was gaining momentum in the Pacific Northwest and in 1910 Washington State amended its Constitution to allow women to vote and run for office. This action helped pave the way for the Nineteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

In 1923 Washington State voters abolished the poll tax and in 1924 the U.S. Congress passed the Indian Citizenship Act granting Native Americans citizenship and voting rights.

Today, we have an estimated 4 million registered voters in Washington State which represents about 68% of those eligible. In the most recent Primary Election in Benton County, voter turnout barely surpassed the 50% mark. This leaves more than half of us without a voice in such an important race.

We can and should do much better. Please encourage your friends and neighbors to register to vote if they haven’t yet done so.

Washington State has had only two women Governors out of a total of 22, while the percentage of women elected to the Washington State House sand Senate is presently 41.5%, surpassing the national average of 29%.

Local offices still have many more men than women holding the positions, but more highly qualified women candidates are emerging. I am the second woman Mayor of Benton City in its approximately 75-year history and currently the only woman mayor in the Tri-Cities.

Ladies, do not be afraid to step up, exercise your vote and for those so inclined, run for office. Although the road is often rocky and thankless, one person can make a difference.

Let’s strive for 100% voter turnout for the November elections.

This story was originally published August 25, 2020 at 3:18 PM with the headline "Marking 100 years of women voting | Guest Opinion."