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In 1921, Missouri voters passed a ballot measure amending the state constitution to allow women to hold political office. This was also the first election after the ratification of the 19th Amendment on August 18, 1920, which granted (white) women the right to vote.
The ability of women’s votes to affect women’s lives revealed itself instantly, and it’s as relevant in 2016 as it was in 1920.
There is so much at stake for women in this year’s presidential election. The next president could determine the fate of reproductive rights, gun control measures, racial justice, paid family leave and the minimum wage. And for the first time since the ratification of the 19th amendment 96 years ago, Americans can choose to cast their vote for a female candidate in a presidential general election.
Women determined the outcome of the 2012 election. If there was ever a time to defend our title, it’s now.
Nobody called Susan B. Anthony a “Beyoncé voter” or implored Elizabeth Cady Stanton to bypass the polls and “get back on Tinder or Match.com.“ Granted, they couldn’t. But our women’s suffrage foremothers didn’t take shit from anybody, and we shouldn’t either.
In that spirit, here are 30 images of women voting throughout history. Get inspired, then get to the polls:
1
National Women's History Museum
In 1872, Susan B. Anthony registered and ultimately voted in a Rochester, New York election. When it was discovered that she had cast a vote as a woman, she was arrested for "voting illegally" and brought to trial. She was ordered to pay a $100 fine. She never did.
2
APA/Getty Images
Good luck telling this suffragette to ditch the vote and "go back on Tinder or Match.com."
3
Museum of London/Heritage Images/Getty Image
When life hands you stiff, uncomfortable apparel, make a pro-suffrage billboard. Emmeline Pankhurst, among the most famous voices in the English suffrage movement, advertises a march for women's suffrage in 1909.
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4
Learnnc.org
The National American Woman Suffrage Association parodies the scare tactics of anti-suffrage propaganda with the document "Why We Oppose Votes For Men." Reason #1: "Because men are too emotional to vote. Their conduct at baseball games and political conventions shows this."
5
Topical Press Agency/Getty Images
A suffragette stands with a "Votes For Women" banner in 1910.
6
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7
Museum of London/Heritage Images/Getty Images
A satirical board game, produced by English suffragettes in 1910 depicts the struggles women were forced to confront. Players move through obstacles like demonstrations, arrests, hunger strikes, and force feeding to reach the House of Parliament at the center of the game -- a symbol for the right to vote.
8
Underwood Archives/Getty Images
Women assembling in San Francisco to to secure passage of a California state amendment granting women the right to vote.
9
Museum of London/Heritage Images/Getty Images
Produced by a suffrage group in London, this 1909 poster highlights the double standard applied to men and women, and just how senseless it was to withhold from women the right to vote.
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10
Stock Montage/Getty Images
Suffrage badass-in-chief Alice Paul leading celebration of Tennessee's ratification of the 19th Amendment looks a bit like the front row at a Beyonce concert.
11
United States Library Of Congress
A pro-suffrage postcard from 1913 is forceful and adorable. "For the work of a day; for the taxes we pay; for the laws we obey; want something to say."
12
Bryn Mawr College Library
"At Last." So reads the cover of The Suffragist magazine in June, 1919, printed following the ratification of the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, guaranteeing women the right to vote. (via Bryn Mawr College Library)
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13
Al Moldvay/The Denver Post via Getty Images
In 1957, Colorado women evoked the early suffrage movement in protest of local political groups that still did not allow women to vote on committee issues.
14
Keystone-France/Gamma-Keystone via Getty Images
Nuns arrive at a polling station in 1959.
15
Afro American Newspapers/Gado/Getty Images
African-American men were granted the right to vote by the 15th Amendment in 1870. But even after the 19th Amendment extended voting rights to African American women, discriminatory practices effectively disenfranchised many African-American voters.
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16
Gabriel Hackett /Getty Images
"Vote baby vote"
17
colettesaintyves.tumblr.com/
In 1960, the Kennedy campaign produced a television ad of Jackie Kennedy speaking Spanish in an attempt to court Latino voters. It is widely recognized as the first time a national campaign recognized Hispanics as critical important bloc of the electorate.
18
Afro American Newspapers/Gado/Getty Images
Women line up in Baltimore to vote in the 1964 election. The Civil Rights Act, which included greater protection for black voters, was passed three months later.
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19
Duane Howell/The Denver Post via Getty Images
Women Voters League Officials offer rides to voters in 1965.
20
ElizabethForMA on Flickr, under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC 2.0)
The Voting Rights Act of 1965 provided even greater protection to black voters against racial discrimination, but black women were advocating for important issues on the ballot long before that.
21
Getty
A woman votes in style in 1970.
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22
New York Daily News Archive via Getty Images
Geraldine Ferraro, former candidate for vice president, votes in 1998.
23
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
Hillary Clinton votes in the 2008 Democratic primary, for which she was a candidate for president.
24
M. Spencer Green
Michelle Obama votes in 2010.
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25
Max Faulkner/Fort Worth Star-Telegram/MCT via Getty Images
Gubernatorial candidate Wendy Davis votes in Texas on Oct. 20, the first day of early voting in that state.
26
Stephanie Keith via Getty Images
Two women walk past a voting sign at PS 3 on April 19, 2016 in the Brooklyn borough of New York City.
27
MICHAEL B. THOMAS via Getty Images
A woman casts her vote during Missouri primary voting at Jury Elementary School on March 15, 2016 in Florissant, Missouri. / AFP / Michael B. Thomas (Photo credit should read MICHAEL B. THOMAS/AFP/Getty Images)
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28
MICHAEL B. THOMAS via Getty Images
A woman is checked in to receive her ballot during Missouri primary voting at the Griffith Elementary School on March 15, 2016 in Ferguson, Missouri.Voters began going to the polls Tuesday in five make-or-break presidential nominating contests, with Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Hillary Clinton seeking to tighten their grip as their party's front runners. / AFP / Michael B. Thomas (Photo credit should read MICHAEL B. THOMAS/AFP/Getty Images)
29
JOE KLAMAR via Getty Images
A Sun Valley resident votes at the polling station located at Our Lady of The Holy Church on election day at the Sun Valley's Latino district, Los Angeles County, on November 6, 2012 in California. AFP PHOTO /JOE KLAMAR (Photo credit should read JOE KLAMAR/AFP/Getty Images)
This post has been adapted from a previous version published in 2014.
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