1970 South Carolina Amendment 1 was a proposed amendment to the Constitution of South Carolina to repeal the defunct provision requiring a voter to be a male. The amendment was symbolic, as the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution had granted women the right to vote in 1920. The ballot measure passed with over 76% of the vote in favor, and with the support of all 46 counties.

Contents

• Background
• Contents
• Results
• See also
• References
• External links

1970 South Carolina Amendment 1

November 3, 1970
Shall Section 3 of Article II of the Constitution of this State be amended so as to delete the word 'male' as a requirement to be an elector in this State?
Results
Choice Votes % Yes 182,327 76.75% No 55,243 23.25%
Yes   80%–90%   70%–80%   60%–70%   50%–60%

Background

During the 1868 State Constitutional Convention, the first official move to grant women suffrage in South Carolina was made. William Whipper, who was a black Republican politician, proposed that the suffrage requirements in the state constitution be amended to remove the word "male". The Convention did not take up his suggestion. ^[1]

On March 13, 1872, Whipper and other suffrage activists who were members of the Republican Party made another attempt to pass universal suffrage in the state. A joint committee from both the state House and Senate, which included Whipper and Alonzo Ransier, a fellow black Republican who was formerly the state's Lieutenant Governor, suggested a state-level constitutional amendment to allow that "every person, male or female, possessed of the necessary qualifications, should be entitled to vote." The state legislature rejected the amendment. After rejection, the idea of women's suffrage was largely abandoned throughout public forums in South Carolina until the 1880s. ^[1]

In January 1920, the South Carolina General Assembly declined to ratify the Nineteenth Amendment, a change to the United States Constitution granting women the right to vote. The State House voted 93 to 21 to reject the amendment, and the State Senate did so 32 to 3. ^[1]

After the Nineteenth Amendment had been federally ratified, South Carolina's legislature reluctantly agreed by passing a statute granting the right to vote to women. However, they simultaneously passed a law prohibiting women from taking part in jury duty. ^[1]

In 1969, the state ratified the Nineteenth Amendment, to which Eulalie Salley, who was once the organizer and president of the Aiken Equal Suffrage League, and, in 1919, the South Carolina Equal Suffrage League president, said, when standing behind the governor when it was ratified, "Boys, I've been waiting for fifty years to tell you what I think of you." ^[1]

Contents

The following question and information was shown to voters for the measure:

"NO. 1

Shall Section 3 of Article II of the Constitution of this State be amended so as to delete the word 'male' as a requirement to be an elector in this State?

In favor of the amendment []

Opposed to the amendment []

Those voting in favor of the amendment shall deposit a ballot with a check or cross mark in the square after the words 'In favor of the amendment', and those voting against the amendment shall deposit a ballot with a check or cross mark in the square after the words 'Opposed to the amendment'." ^[2]

Results

See also

• Women's suffrage in the United States

References

External links

1970 South Carolina Amendment 1 at Ballotpedia