Small Town Discovers It Bans Women From Voting

When the mayor of Sistersville, W.Va, resigned this summer, city officials had to turn to their charter for guidance on how to replace him. After looking over the old document, the city discovered a surprising provision: Only the men of Sistersville are allowed to vote.

Despite the charter, women are able to vote in the city, as required by the U.S. Constitution's 19th Amendment. Indeed, its new mayor is a woman. But Sistersville's superannuated ban on women's suffrage has become a subject of debate for the residents of the tiny city on the banks of the Ohio River.

Some residents have asked the city council to correct the charter. With a population under 1,500, Sistersville doesn't have a big budget, and amending the document wouldn't come cheap, officials say. "We don't need to amend it because the Nineteenth Amendment takes care of it," Sistersville city recorder Julie Schleier told The Wall Street Journal's Law Blog. "It would be a waste of paperwork." City officials say redoing the charter would cost thousands of dollars in legal fees.

Ms. Schleier said a lot of charters in West Virginia are stuck in a time warp. For instance, she noted, the charter of nearby Paden City still requires its men to work for the city for two days a year doing physical labor at a rate of $1.05 a day.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323342404579077130286788644.html

From the WSJ Highlights From the Law Blog (this is the title, in order to search in google)