The Senate Says Yes to Women’s Suffrage—For Now
A constitutional amendment to let women vote cleared the Washington Senate with 21 votes and 9,450 petition signatures, but a reconsideration motion threatened to undo it.
The bill for the submission of a constitutional amendment for equal suffrage was passed by the senate this afternoon. The bill was supported by a bundle of petitions with 9,450 signatures. Senator Lewis frankly admitted that he did not believe in woman suffrage. He thought, however, that the prevailing sentiment on the matter entitled it to consideration, and he hoped every senator would vote for the bill. The roll call showed twenty-one ayes to eight noes. Senator Deckebach gave notice that he would at the proper time move to reconsider.
“Senator Lewis frankly admitted that he did not believe in woman suffrage. He thought, however, that the prevailing sentiment on the matter entitled it to consideration.”
Washington women had won and lost the ballot before—territorial suffrage in 1883, stripped by the courts in 1887. The 1895 Senate vote was another false start on the long road to the 1910 state amendment, a reminder that voting rights often advanced by procedural inches and could be reversed by a single motion.
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