What is the 19th Amendment and How Old Is It?

The 19th Amendment was certified 105 years ago. (The 19th Amendment was ratified August 18, 1920.)

Illustration of the 19th Amendment of the Constitution looking at a birthday cake with "105" candles on it. — The Constitution reflects on the 105th birthday of the 19th Amendment.

It says:

Illustration of the U.S. Constitution with the text of the 19th Amendment ("The right of Citizens of the U.S. to vote shall now be abridged or denied by the US or by any state on account of sex." — The 19th Amendment says, “The right of citizens of the United State to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any state on account of sex. Congress shall have the power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.”

Congress approved the Amendment on June 4, 1919, but then it had to be ratified by 36 of the 48 states.

Illustration of Congress building with arms and legs holding up a banner that says "19th Amendment Approved! Onto the States!" — Congress approved the 19th Amendment, then it was off to the states to ratify.

Tennessee was the 36th state to ratify, on August 18, 1920. A few days later,¹ it was certified and made official.

Illustration of the contiguous U.S., where all but the south eastern states are colored in pink with numbers. This shows that the states that ratified the 19th amendment were everyone but the South (and Vermont). — The map of the U.S. shows that Tennessee was the 36th state to ratify the 19th Amendment.

A couple more states ratified in the next few years.

Illustration of the U.S., in an outline, highlighting three small states to show how in the early 1920s they also ratified the Amendment. — In 1920, 1921, and 1923, 3 more states ratified the 19th Amendment.

And, even though it already applied to them, it took nine more states 20+ years to ratify the amendment.

Illustration of the U.S., highlighting all the South Eastern states and pointing out the year they ratified the Amendment. E.g., Louisiana was 1970. — A bunch of Southern states took many may years to ratify the 19th Amendment, long after it was already in effect.

The 19th Amendment’s addition to our Constitution didn’t mean, in reality, that every woman in the U.S. got to vote from that moment on. Jim Crow laws, the Chinese Exclusion Act, and policies towards Native Americans prevented many women from voting for many years.

Illustration of the 19th Amendment with arms and legs saying, "Women can vote!" and standing off against a reedy pole with a straw hat called "poll tax," who is saying "Not if they don't pay up!" — The 19th Amendment and poll taxes go head to head. Even though the 19th Amendment was there, poll taxes kept some people from voting.

This is one of the challenges with laws. They can seem super straightforward on their face (“You can’t prevent women from voting!”), but some other law or legal interpretation (“It’s fiiiiine to charge poll taxes, even though that effectively prevents any woman who can’t pay from voting.”) can warp the result.

Usually this is intentional, though never the claimed reason. (They have to be able to hide behind some other reason.) Poll taxes aren’t legal anymore, but this kind of thing, in different forms, is still very much a challenge today.

I’m grateful for all the people who fought for the 19th Amendment, the legislators who voted for it, and the advocates who continue to work to make voting as accessible as possible!

Voting selfies + 1 voting grandma

I’m also grateful for all the times I’ve voted, for being able to help my grandma vote from home, and for all the times you’ve voted, too.

Thanks for being here and voting!

(Also, are people in other states as excited about the sticker you get after voting, or is that just us in Minnesota? (Or is it not even a Minnesota thing and it’s just me?))

Grateful for the 19th Amendment Turning 105

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