1970 South Carolina Amendment 1

1970 South Carolina Amendment 1 was a proposed amendment to the Constitution of South Carolina to repeal the defunct provision requiring a voter to be a male. The amendment was symbolic, as the Nineteenth Amendment had granted women the right to vote in 1920. The ballot measure passed with over 76% of the vote in favor, and with the support of all 46 counties.

1970 South Carolina Amendment 1
November 3, 1970
Shall Section 3 of Article II of the Constitution of this State be amended so as to delete the word 'male' as a requirement to be an elector in this State?
Results
Choice
 Votes %
Yes 182,327 76.75%
No 55,243 23.25%

Background

During the 1868 State Constitutional Convention, the first official move to grant women suffrage in South Carolina was made. William Whipper, who was a black Republican politician, proposed that the suffrage requirements in the state constitution be amended to remove the word "male". The Convention did not take up his suggestion.[1]

On March 13, 1872, Whipper and other suffrage activists who were members of the Republican Party made another attempt to pass universal suffrage in the state. A joint committee from both the state House and Senate, which included Whipper and Alonzo Ransier, a fellow black Republican who was formerly the state's Lieutenant Governor, suggested a state-level constitutional amendment to allow that "every person, male or female, possessed of the necessary qualifications, should be entitled to vote." The state legislature rejected the amendment. After rejection, the idea of women's suffrage was largely abandoned throughout public forums in South Carolina until the 1880s.[1]

In January 1920, the South Carolina General Assembly declined to ratify the Nineteenth Amendment, a change to the United States Constitution granting women the right to vote. The State House voted 93 to 21 to reject the amendment, and the State Senate did so 32 to 3.[1]

After the Nineteenth Amendment had been federally ratified, South Carolina's legislature reluctantly agreed by passing a statute granting the right to vote to women. However, they simultaneously passed a law prohibiting women from taking part in jury duty.[1]

In 1969, the state ratified the Nineteenth Amendment, to which Eulalie Salley, who was once the organizer and president of the Aiken Equal Suffrage League, and, in 1919, the South Carolina Equal Suffrage League president, said, when standing behind the governor when it was ratified, "Boys, I've been waiting for fifty years to tell you what I think of you."[1]

Contents

The following question and information was shown to voters for the measure:

"NO. 1

Shall Section 3 of Article II of the Constitution of this State be amended so as to delete the word 'male' as a requirement to be an elector in this State?

In favor of the amendment []

Opposed to the amendment []

Those voting in favor of the amendment shall deposit a ballot with a check or cross mark in the square after the words 'In favor of the amendment', and those voting against the amendment shall deposit a ballot with a check or cross mark in the square after the words 'Opposed to the amendment'."[2]

Results

County Yes No
# % # %
Abbeville 1,557 67.81 739 32.19
Aiken 9,155 81.05 2,141 18.95
Allendale 809 77.64 233 22.36
Anderson 7,391 70.17 3,142 29.83
Bamberg 781 83.44 155 16.56
Barnwell 1,642 76.19 513 23.81
Beaufort 2,649 81.76 591 18.24
Berkeley 2,600 85.25 450 14.75
Calhoun 360 70.18 153 29.82
Charleston 15,035 80.66 3,605 19.34
Cherokee 2,844 77.77 813 22.23
Chester 2,225 77.10 661 22.90
Chesterfield 2,080 68.22 969 31.78
Clarendon 1,488 76.94 446 23.06
Colleton 2,041 70.62 849 29.38
Darlington 3,015 77.61 870 22.39
Dillon 1,583 80.23 390 19.77
Dorchester 2,228 77.47 648 22.53
Edgefield 1,245 71.47 497 28.53
Fairfield 1,685 76.80 509 23.20
Florence 4,905 76.19 1,533 23.81
Georgetown 1,759 81.47 400 18.53
Greenville 18,568 76.04 5,852 23.96
Greenwood 3,411 81.54 772 18.46
Hampton 1,316 84.25 246 15.75
Horry 3,834 76.83 1,156 23.17
Jasper 318 79.10 84 20.90
Kershaw 3,445 73.41 1,248 26.59
Lancaster 3,643 77.81 1,039 22.19
Laurens 3,202 69.43 1,410 30.57
Lee 599 86.81 91 13.19
Lexington 8,528 74.89 2,859 25.11
Marion 1,042 66.54 524 33.46
Marlboro 813 78.93 217 21.07
McCormick 824 86.37 130 13.63
Newberry 3,672 69.31 1,626 30.69
Oconee 1,722 59.75 1,160 40.25
Orangeburg 2,012 57.70 1,475 42.30
Pickens 4,219 77.20 1,246 22.80
Richland 21,713 83.28 4,360 16.72
Saluda 1,762 70.12 751 29.88
Spartanburg 14,648 82.29 3,152 17.71
Sumter 4,808 76.10 1,510 23.90
Union 1,794 66.72 895 33.28
Williamsburg 1,770 72.54 670 27.46
York 5,587 79.43 1,447 20.57
Total 182,327 77.08 54,227 22.92[3]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b c d e Bland, Sidney R.; Yarbrough, Cappy (7 July 2016). "Women's Suffrage". South Carolina Encyclopedia. University of South Carolina. Archived from the original on 7 September 2025. Retrieved 14 December 2025.
  2. ^ "Official Ballot, General Election, on Statewide Constitutional Amendments". The Index-Journal. 22 October 1970. Retrieved 14 December 2025 – via Newspapers.
  3. ^ "REPORT of the SOUTH CAROLINA ELECTION COMMISSION For the Period Ending June 30, 1973" (PDF). South Carolina Election Commission. Retrieved 13 December 2025.

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