page_title: Women's suffrage in states of the United States
section_title: Utah
hierarchical_section_title: Women's suffrage in states of the United States / States and regions / West / Utah
caption_attribution_description: English: "AN ACT Conferring upon Women the Elective Franchise. [Approved February 12, 1870.] Section 1. Be it enacted by the Governor and Legislative Assembly of the Territory of Utah: That every woman of the age of twenty-one years who has resided in this Territory six months next preceding any general or special election, born or naturalized in the United States, or who is the wife, widow, or the daughter of a native-born or naturalized citizen of the United States, shall be entitled to vote at any election in this Territory. Sec. 2. All laws or parts of laws conflicting with this Act are hereby repealed."
context_page_description: Women's suffrage in states of the United States refers to women's right to vote in individual states of that country. Suffrage was established on a full or partial basis by various towns, counties, states and territories during the latter decades of the 19th century and early part of the 20th century. As women received the right to vote in some places, they began running for public office and gaining positions as school board members, county clerks, state legislators, judges, and, in the case of Jeannette Rankin, as a Member of Congress.
  The campaign to establish women's right to vote in the states was conducted simultaneously with the campaign for an amendment to the United States Constitution that would establish that right fully in all states. That campaign succeeded with the ratification of Nineteenth Amendment in 1920.
context_section_description: The prevalence of Mormonism in Utah made the fight for women's suffrage there unique. In 1869 the Utah Territory, controlled by members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church), gave women the right to vote. Sarah Young, the niece of Brigham Young, was the first woman to legally vote in the United States, due to a municipal election held on February 14, 1869 (Wyoming had recognized women's right to vote earlier that year, but had not yet held an election). However, in 1887, Congress disenfranchised Utah women with the Edmunds–Tucker Act, which was designed to weaken the Mormons politically and punish them for polygamy. At the same time, however, certain activists, particularly Presbyterians and other Protestants convinced that Mormonism was a non-Christian cult that grossly mistreated women, promoted women's suffrage in Utah as an experiment, and as a way to eliminate polygamy.  The LDS Church officially ended its endorsement of polygamy in 1890 and in 1895 Utah adopted a constitution restoring the right of woman suffrage. Congress admitted Utah as a state with that constitution in 1896.
caption: An Act Conferring upon Women the Elective Franchise, enacted in Utah on February 12, 1870
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