The Fight for the Franchise
As Washington moved toward statehood in 1889, delegates placed the question of woman suffrage directly before the voters in a separate ballot article.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
Separate Article No. 1: All persons male and female of the age of twenty-one years or over, possessing the other qualifications provided by this constitution, shall be entitled to vote at all elections. If a majority of the ballots cast at said election on said separate articles be in favor of the adoption of either of said separate articles, then such separate article so receiving a majority shall become a part of this constitution and shall govern and control any provision of the constitution in conflict therewith.
“All persons male and female of the age of twenty-one years or over... shall be entitled to vote at all elections.”
This text captures the precarious nature of early voting rights in Washington. While the 1889 Constitution laid the groundwork for democracy, the formal enfranchisement of women would remain a contested battleground for decades before being fully realized.
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