Solano County Supervisors Present a Resolution Honoring the 100th Anniversary of Women’s Right to Vote

Resolution No. 2020 - RESOLUTION OF THE SOLANO COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS RECOGNIZING MONDAY, AUGUST 2020 AS THE 100TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE WOMEN’S RIGHT TO VOTE WHEREAS, The 19th Amendment, guaranteeing women the right to vote in the United States, was ratified on August 18th, 1920, and unceremoniously signed into law on August 26th, 1920 by Secretary of State Bainbridge Colby. The amendment was a culmination of more than 70 years of struggle and protest by women suffragists; and WHEREAS, The Women’s Suffrage movement started in July 1848 at the first women’s rights convention in the United States, known as the Seneca Falls Convention. The convention had 300 attendees, including about 40 men – most notably Fredrick Douglas - and focused on the social, civil and religious rights of women; and WHEREAS, The goals and purpose of the convention was best articulated by Elizabeth Cady Stanton, one of the meeting’s organizers when she said: “We are assembled to protest against a form of government, existing without the consent of the governed—to declare our right to be free as man is free, to be represented in the government which we are taxed to support, to have such disgraceful laws as give man the power to chastise and imprison his wife, to take the wages which she earns, the property which she inherits, and, in case of separation, the children of her love.”; and WHEREAS, After the Seneca Falls Convention, a National Women’s Rights Convention was established in 1950 and held annually thereafter to advance the rights of women; and WHEREAS Voting rights in the United States was largely restricted to white male property owners in the 1770’s. The 15th Amendment was ratified in 1870 which ensured that people could not be denied the right to vote because of their race. While the 15th Amendment expanded voting rights to African American men, women were still denied the right to vote; and many states, particularly in the South, used a variety of policies and practices (e.g., poll taxes, literacy tests) to suppress voting among African American men; and WHEREAS, In 1920 women won the right to vote. This historic achievement was but one step in the long battle for voters’ rights in this country. Voter suppression tactics continued in many states, targeting men and women of color, and low-income whites. Further advancements included: 1) The 24th amendment, ratified in 1964, which stated that “the rights of citizens… shall not be denied or abridged by the United States by reason of failure to pay any poll tax or other tax”. 2) The 1965 Voter’s Rights Act which prohibited States from using policies and practices to suppress voters. 3) The 1975 expansion of the Voting Rights Act to protect language minorities: and 4) The 1982 expansion of the Voting Rights Act to make voting more accessible for the elderly and people with disabilities. NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that the Solano County Board of Supervisors recognizes August 2020 as the 100th Anniversary of the Women’s Right to Vote. Dated this 28th day of July, 2020