Existing comment:
State Ratification
Alice Paul and the NWP launched a series of lobbying campaigns across the country to encourage state legislatures to ratify the 19th amendment. The existing state and local branches of the NWP mobilized to lobby local elected officials and encourage their state representatives to vote for the amendment.
The biggest obstacle to ratification was the state legislatures themselves. In the summer of 1919 many state governments had adjourned for the year and few had plans to gather before the next election. in order to women to be permitted to vote in 1920, the NWP had to convince the governor to each state to call a special session of the state legislature to vote on the suffrage amendment.
While twenty-eight states offered women at least partial suffrage, the NWP knew that getting thirty-six states would take work. |