Sufferin 'til Suffrage

Hey y’all, pull down your levers! It’s time to vote.

Last week my 5th grader memorized the amendments to the Constitution. I had to plead the 5th when he asked me to explain the 9th. But I’ll never forget the 19th amendment, oh no.

Saturday mornings I’d wake up and bake cinnamon rolls from a tin can and eat them while I watched cartoons in the den. Schoolhouse Rock infiltrated the mix of Scooby Doo and Lidsville. Remember "Sufferin 'til Suffrage"? You know the 19th amendment “struck down that restrictive rule.” That lyric refers to the turn of the 19th century, when women who had the right to vote in certain states lost that right. The 19th amendment ensured women would not be denied the right to vote on account of their sex. My grandmothers Elizabeth and Rose were able to vote when they reached the age of majority, but not their mothers, Lucille and Flora, respectively.

Voting rights used to vary from state to state. My current state of residence was the last state to remove the restriction that voters had to own property. That change occurred in 1856. Even in our times, it was not until 1971 that the 26th amendment established that in all states the legal voting age would be 18. So my sister was able to vote in ’74 when she was 19. She’d been waiting, too; I still remember the McGovern poster in her bedroom in ’72.

Here’s more to read on the history of voting rights, but you might want to save this reading material until after you vote—I don’t want to impinge on your voting time!

Disclaimer: There was a time that I was so turned off by politics that I was an independent, not because I wanted to remain impartial, but because I thought I was above it all that way. Now I’m affiliated with a party, and I’m humbled by my right to vote. I see it as part of my duty to model good citizenship for my children, and as a tribute to the people who came before me to ensure my right to vote.

No literacy test, no poll tax. I’m voting. Because I can.

And now we pull down on the lever/
Cast our ballots and we endeavor/
To improve our country, state, county, town, and school.
"Sufferin 'til Suffrage" Schoolhouse Rock