The log cabin Democrat., 1920-08-26
.''"...'.'-..'........'...s..e.e...e.'',. : . ARKANSAS WOMEN AND !. . THE BALLOT. |.
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States by the ratification of Tennes-
 see, the thirty-siXth state, it is inter- esting to inquire as to the status of Arkansas women with regard to the ballot
 In 1918 and 1920 the women of this state have had the right to vote in primary elections, the prerequisite be- ing the payment of poll-taX. The latter, however, is not obligatory, and comparatively few women have availed themselves of the privilege. In Faulk- ner county, for instance where ap- proximately 5,500 men paid poll taxes this year, only about 100 women, less than two per cent of the whole num- Der qualified to vote in the primary election by paying poll taxes. A simi- lar ratio prevails in other counties of the state. It would thus seem that the women themselves are manifesting little desire for the ballot.
 But what of the present and the future? Will all women be permit ted to vote in the coming November election, now that the supreme law of the iand for6ids any state to deny them the ballot on account of their sex? A study of the situation would seem to show that only those women in Arkansas who paid poll taxes prior to the first Monday m July, 1920, can be permitter to vote in November.
 The fifteenth amendment to the fed eral constitution provides that the right of suffrage shall not be denied or abridged by reason of race, color or previous condition of servitude. The nineteenth amendment provides that this right shall not be denied by req son of sex. Neither of these amend ments, however, nor any other part of the federal constitution, provides that other qualifications may not be pre- scribed for voting. Thus in some states there is a property qualification; in others there is an educational quail fication; in practically all states there is qualification as to citizenship or length of residence in the state, as to age, etc.
 In Arkansas, the qualifications re- quired of an elector are that he shall have been a male citizen of the state for one year, the county six months and the precinct or ward one month i; that he shall have arrived at the age of 21 years; that he shall not have been convicted of a felony, and that he shall exhibit a poll tax receipt or other evidence that he paid a poll tax at the time of paying taxes next preceding the election at which he de- slres to vote
 The only manner in which this con- stitutional law of Arkansas is amend by the superior federal constitutional provision would be the removal of the word male and the addition of the feminine personal pronoun where the masculine pronoun occurs. The nine teenth amendment does not in any way affect the residence, age, poll tax and other qualifications fixed by our state constitution. So that only those wom- en who paid poll taxes during the time fixed by law-whieh ended on the first Monday in July-and who pos sess the other qualifications required by our constitution may be permit ted to vote.
 The legislature of 1919 submitted to the people a constitutional amendment which will be voted upon next No vember and which, if adopted, would give the women of Arkansas equal rights of suffrage with men, regard less of whether the federal suffrage amendment had been ratified. With the latter in force, however, the amend ment of our constitutional is un- necessary to give women the vote, as the federal constitution is paramount to that of any state, but it would be well for the voters to adopt propos- ed amendment No. IA, in order that the wording of our constitution may not be in conflict with that of the federal constitution. Another arcu- ment for its adoption is that it con- tains provision debarring aliens from the electorate
 But the proposed amendment or the present constitution does not make the payment of a poll tax obliga- tory; it simply makes it a prere- qulslte for voting. An act of the leg ls-ature approved on April &, 1891, however, Iev.es a per capita tax of @l on every male person in the state above the age Of 2l years. As is the case with other taxes. the collector is empowered 10 seize any property be- longing to the man who fails to pay this tax and 10 collect it by force, but there is no other penalty aside from loss of the right to vote for failure to pay a poll taX.
 The legislature may amend this statute and make the payment of per capita tax obligatory alike upon men and women, but so long as it is left ont lp11 al yt-Itb ytto,V,a,, ,,o,. | +L ,e.~