[Handbill from the Alameda County Political Equality Society Calling for Poll Watchers]

Alameda, Ca, 1896. Very good.. Handbill, 8.5 x 5.25 inches. Old folds, minor wear. An apparently unrecorded resolution involving the first ballot measure calling for women's suffrage in California in the waning years of the 19th century. Here, the Alameda County Political Equality Society calls for two representatives to be present at each polling place in the county to ensure that votes are "properly canvassed and returned." Particularly at issue was Amendment No. 6 in the election, "extending the right to women to vote." A printed note at the bottom of the document states that the resolution was "Passed by the Board of Supervisors of Alameda County, at their regular meeting, November 2nd, 1896." The prospect of calling for representatives to monitor polling places indicates the political unrest brought forth during the suffrage movement. Of particular interest on this handbill are the vote tallies handwritten on the verso, beginning with the county or precinct totals for President and including numerous other state and local races; for example, William McKinley received 116 votes to W.J. Bryan's 34. The handwritten tallies do not include totals for the Women's Suffrage Amendment, but it was ultimately defeated statewide by a healthy margin of about 27,000 votes. The present handbill provides a unique record of a failed attempt in California to secure for women the right to vote at the close of the 19th century. It would take another fifteen years for women to achieve the franchise right, when a similar amendment to the California Constitution narrowly passed (by just over 3,500 votes) in 1911.