Tuesday Open Line


An emotional and legal battle that lasted many decades ended on this date in 1920, changing the course of U.S. social and political history. The event was the certification of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution. The amendment prohibits discrimination based on sex with regard to voting — in short, it extended to women the right to vote. Two days earlier, Tennessee had become the required 36th state to ratify the amendment, in spite of last minute efforts by some state lawmakers to overturn the legislature’s action. American women exercised their new right for the first time in the 1920 presidential election. In the 2012 presidential election, 63.7 percent of women voted, compared with just under 60 percent for men. You can find more facts about America from the U.S. Census Bureau online at <www.census.gov>.