The Vote
By Mona Reno
The best efforts and the most worthy causes come down to the same ultimate event, The Vote.
On November 3rd, 1914 the men of Nevada went to the polls and cast their votes on Nevada Constitutional Amendment No. 1: Suffrage. At the end of the tally Equal Suffrage had won by 3,678 votes. The final tally statewide was 10,936 to 7,258.
Nevada had sixteen counties in 1914. The twelve mining and agricultural counties in Nevada overwhelmingly voted in favor of Equal Suffrage. The four counties with the greatest population density voted no: Eureka, Ormsby (now Carson City), Storey and Washoe.
In the linked pages to the actual vote by place name in each county you will find which locations voted for and against Suffrage. I am proud that my little town of Silver City voted in favor of Suffrage in 1914. Take a look for where you live on these pages to see how your town voted. If you are in Pershing County now you will notice it isn’t listed. Pershing was created out of Humboldt County in 1919, so look there for your town.
In the Biennial Report of the Secretary of State, 1913-14 I found the list of who spent money on the campaign.
Nevada Association of Women Opposed to Equal Suffrage $1,057.07
Nevada Equal Franchise Society $8,062.72
Here are those same dollar amounts in 2013 dollars:
Nevada Association of Women Opposed to Equal Suffrage $24,232.78
Nevada Equal Franchise Society $184,833.69
Hard work, money and the support of Nevada’s men won the day for Equal Suffrage in 1914.