Women gaining vote in Washington took decades

By: Andrea Doll and Wende Sanderson

This month, we celebrate the 100th anniversary of ratification of the 19th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which states: “The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex.”

Although women in our state had voting rights since 1910, that was not true for most other states in our country. It wasn’t until 1919 that Congress voted to pass the 19th amendment. And then it was up to the states to ratify. By August 1920, the necessary 36 states (including Washington) had rati...