Women -- Suffrage -- History; Women -- Suffrage -- United States -- History; Women's rights -- History; Women's rights -- United States -- History
The calendar of suffrage events in the Legislature of 1917 was as
follows: On January 23 the bill for a constitutional convention passed
the House by 87 ayes, 10 noes; on the 31st it passed the Senate by 34
ayes, 14 noes, and on February 1 was signed by Governor James P.
Goodrich. On February 8 the Presidential-Municipal suffrage bill
passed the Senate by 32 ayes, 16 noes. It also provided that women
could vote for delegates to the constitutional convention, were
eligible to election as delegates and could vote on the adoption of
the proposed new constitution. On the 22nd it passed the House by 67
ayes, 24 noes, and was signed by the Governor. The Legislature also
voted to submit a full suffrage amendment to the electors.
Although it was early apparent that these laws would be carried into
the courts preparations were at once made by the women for
registering. The Franchise League opened booths in the shopping
districts in the cities and urged the women in the country to go to
the court house and register when in town. They sent out women
notaries with blanks to register the women.[49] In Vigo county, of
which Terre Haute is the county seat, 12,000 registered, more than the
average number of men who usually voted at elections. In all parts of
the State the registration of women was very large and the women were
studying political questions and showing much interest in their new
duties.
Meanwhile the action of the Legislature was taken into the courts. On
June 25 Judge W. W. Thornton of the Marion County (Indianapolis)
Superior Court gave a decision that the Legislature had no authority
to call for an election of delegates to a constitutional convention
and no right to grant to women the privilege of voting for such
delegates or any constitution which might be submitted to the voters.
The case was at once appealed to the State Supreme Court, which on
July 13 sustained the decision. Chief Justice Erwin wrote the opinion
and Justices Spencer, Harvey and Myers concurred. Justice M. B. Lairy
filed a dissenting opinion. There was a wide difference of opinion
among the lawyers of the State.
This decision did not affect the limited suffrage law, which gave
women the right to vote for (1) Presidential electors; (2) all State
officers not expressly named in the constitution, including Attorney
General and Judges of the Appellate, Superior, Criminal, Probate and
Juvenile Courts; (3) all city, township and county officers not named
in the constitution. The law was referred to as nine-tenths suffrage.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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