Older attitudes remained strong. In terms of national politics, women often followed the lead of their husbands or families, and traditional loyalties remained strong.
Voting gave rise to many problems for women:
- Registration was not always easy, married women had to re-register as individuals (rather than having their husbands vote for them).
- There were problems in meetings some local residency requirements.
- It was often difficult for women looking after children, with husbands away working, to even travel to the voting stations.
- Voting participation varied from area to area and was sometimes low where there were large numbers of immigrants.
Political parties created women’s committees and were keen to mobilise women voters, but women only achieved substantial representation of party committees in a minority in some states by 1940.
Women’s group for Democrats, Republicans etc.
Outside of political parties there were also problems in taking office. Some states were slow to amend legislation allowing women to be candidates for public office, Oklahoma even prohibiting this until 1942.
- By 1933 there were 146 women in state legislatures and by 1945 there were 234.
- Jeanette Rankin was the first woman to serve in Congress in 1917.
In the 20 years after the 19th Amendment there were only 2 female governors of states, both standing in for their husband.
Many AA women could vote in theory but not in practice, because of restrictions such as literary tests and the threat of verbal and physical abuse and harassment.
Only a good 40 years later in the 1960s, that these obstacles were overcome. In some states, both NA men and women were prohibited from voting.
