Nearly 100 years after suffrage, New Jersey women underrepresented in public office

For a brief time in history, New Jersey was the only place in America where women could vote.

Between 1776, when the state constitution permitted “all free inhabitants, of this State, of full age, who are worth fifty pounds” to vote, and 1807, when the state restricted voting to white male citizens, largely land-owning and unmarried women could make their voices heard.

They were then silenced for 113 years.

The passage of the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution in 1920, a milestone that will be celebrated on Sunday as Women’s Equality Day, enfranchised women — all women — once more. Permanently.

More than 8 million women across the country voted in elections that year. By 1964, women were outvoting men. They cast nearly 10 million more votes than men in the 2016 presidential election.

Read more: https://www.northjersey.com/story/news/politics/2018/08/25/nearly-100-years-after-suffrage-nj-women-underrepresented-office/1074061002/