September 1, 2019
By:
Last week marked the 99th anniversary of the passage of the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, guaranteeing women the right to vote.
Over time, women began to become more involved in the electoral process and eventually reached the point of becoming candidates and elected officials. For the first time in history, there are six women on the DeKalb County Commission.
“Women play a key role in the outcome of the election results in DeKalb County,” said Dennis Stanley, Administrator of Elections.
“At 52.6 percent, we have more women than men who are registered to vote,” Stanley said. Of the county’s 15 precincts, more women are registered in 10 of those precincts—Alexandria, Liberty, Dowelltown, Snow Hill, Church of God, The Courthouse, Johnson Chapel, the County Complex, Keltonburg, Blue Springs and the Church of Christ Annex.
And they do vote. In the November 2018 state election women out-voted the men 2,992 to 2,929, a difference of 63 votes. In the August County General and state primary elections, women out-voted men by a 141 votes county-wide.
A district breakdown shows how important Amendment 19 has become, not only nationwide, but in local races. In August last year, there were 66 more women votes than men in District 3, 27 more in District 2, and 72 more in District 7.
“These numbers obviously indicate the significance and importance of that amendment 99 years ago,” Stanley said.