“In Relation to the Rights of Suffrage”: The 1911 Amendment for Women’s Voting Rights in California

This official certification, issued by California Secretary of State Frank C. Jordan, records the results of the October 10, 1911 special election and formally certifies the constitutional amendments approved by California voters. Among the measures adopted was Senate Constitutional Amendment No. 8 (Proposition 4), which amended the California Constitution to grant women the right to vote, as well as several other Progressive Era reforms approved during the same election, including measures expanding direct democracy and government reform.

Senate Constitutional Amendment No. 8 passed by a margin of just 3,587 votes, with a final count of 125,037 to 121,450. Its passage made California the sixth state in the nation to enfranchise women, nearly nine years before the ratification of the 19th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Following the amendment’s adoption, Governor Johnson called a special legislative session in November 1911 to revise state election laws and fully implement women’s newly won voting rights.