On December 4, 1919, South Dakota became the 21st state to ratify the Nineteenth Amendment, allowing women’s suffrage. In six previous state elections, the ballot measure giving women the right to vote was defeated… starting in 1890, and then in 1898, 1910, 1914, and again in 1916.
For a state far-sighted enough to be first to give citizens the right of “initiative and referendum”, the path to approving a woman's right to vote followed a long and winding road.
A summary of information gathered by the “her voice, her vote” project shows that as early as 1868, a women's suffrage bill was proposed in the Dakota Territorial House. The same measure came to a vote four years later, but was defeated by a single vote.
In 1879, a law was passed giving women the right to vote at school meetings, but 4 years after that, changes in voting laws rescinded that right for many women.
Political activity increased as statehood approached, and the Woman's Christian Temperance Union helped circulate petitions to support women's suffrage.
Following statehood in 1889, the South Dakota Equal Suffrage Association was formed and Susan B. Anthony toured the state advocating for a woman’s right to vote.
Several times over the next 30 years, the legislature would pass a suffrage bill but voters rejected the measures… that is until the elections of 1918 with the final ratification of the nineteenth amendment on this day in 1919.
There were other voting rights issues still to be dealt with. In 1924, the Indian Citizenship Act was passed. However, South Dakota only allowed Native Americans a limited right to vote. In fact, Legislative documents state that “South Dakota was one of the last states in the nation officially to grant voting rights to all Indians. The anti-Indian voting rights statutes remained codified in South Dakota law until 1951.”
Production help is provided by Doctor Brad Tennant, Professor of History at Dakota Wesleyan University.