Omaha daily bee., 1919-05-18
Are Women Electors

20, Woman in our hours OF ease
uncertain. coy, and hard to please,
When thou a Suffragette. would be,
I What are Constitutions. and Laws. to
5t Thee.
Under the law as passed by the
legislature in 1917, which was IAN
Act to amend Section 1910 Of the
Revised Statutes of 1915" the
women of the state are claiming to
be electors, and entitled to vote;
Section 1910 above mentioned is a
literal copy of Section of Article
VII Of the Constitution Of Nebraska.
entitled Rights of Suffrage" and
the act Of 1917. while 1t may have
amended section 1910. did not
amend the constitution of the State
NJ Nebraska, which says that Every
male person~of the age Of 20 and
upwards belonging to either of the
Following classes - shall be an
elector." which seems to exclude
women from the franchise. and the
act of 1917 is Unconstitutional and
void: for the constitution Is the SUI
amy 10 VI Tic SldlCs anu tlC tcA'-
stltution provides how the same may
be amended, and that is not by an
act of the legislature.
Assuming for the sake of the
argument that the law of 1917 was
valid, the .proviso contained therein
by which it provided, mo female
person shall be permitted to vote
for United States senator, United
States representative or for any
office specified or designated in the
Constitution of Nebraska, or upon
any question or proposition sub
mitted to the voters. the manner or
submission which is specified or
designated In the Constitution of Ne
hraska," is the joker in the act.
for it seems to me that the Constitu-
ton of the State of Nebraska, while
1t specifies, certain officials, all others
are designated in the act by which
the legislature is given authority to
provide for state, county, municipal
or school officers. including the sub
mission to the, electors of certain
questions or propositions. So ! do
not see what is left for the women
to vote for.
/ have seen a statement in a news
paper that claimed the women might
vote for president of the United
States, Now if the women are not
electors, what force and effect is to
be given to Article XII of the Consti-
tuition of the United States, which
says, The electors shall meet in
their respective states and vote by
ballot for president and vice presi-
dent" etc. Now, as women have
not by the laws of Nebraska been
made electors, have they any pres
hope, or right, to entitle them to the
right of suffrage? What says the
the Constitution of the United
States, article XIV, Section 1: "All
persons born or naturalized in the
United States, and subject to the
jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of
the United States and of the state
wherein they reside. No state shall
make or enforce any law which
shall abridge the privileges or i'm
munities of citizens of the United
States" etc. Again Article XIV,
Section T. THE right of citizens of
the United States to vote shall not
be denied or abridged by the United
States or by any state on account of
race. color, or previous condition of
So all women born or
in the United States are
citizens of the United States, and
having been denied the right to
vote may claim to have been under
a condition of servitude, and may
demand that their rights be not
abridged. for if citizen of the
United States shall not be denied the
right to vote, this refers to all wo-
men who were born or naturaIized
in the United States; and the only
question of age and residence, to
qualify as an elector. E. C. ].
Blair, Neb.