All Citizens, Vote!

As members of the Santa Barbara County Women’s Commission, we strongly encourage all citizens to vote, but we especially implore women to exercise their hard-earned right.

When California became the 31st state in 1850, women did not have the same rights as men, including the right to vote. Around that same time, however, a women’s movement was organized across the country that published “Declaration of Rights and Sentiments” that began by stating, “We hold these truths to be self-evident; that all men and women are created equal … ”

By 1865, slavery and involuntary servitude were abolished in the United States, but women of all races were not considered equal under the law. Married women had no right to their property or children, they could not serve on juries, and they could not vote. In 1870, the 15th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was approved, which prohibited federal and state governments from denying a citizen the right to vote based on race, color, or previous condition of servitude, but not on gender.