Recognizes history of women's suffrage in NJ.

SR94

SENATE RESOLUTION No. 94

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

222nd LEGISLATURE

�

INTRODUCED MARCH 23, 2026

Sponsored by:

Senator� KRISTIN M. CORRADO

District 40 (Bergen, Essex and Passaic)

Senator� RENEE C. BURGESS

District 28 (Essex and Union)

SYNOPSIS

���� Recognizes history of women�s suffrage in NJ.

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT

���� As introduced.

��

A Senate
Resolution
recognizing the history of
women�s suffrage in New Jersey.

Whereas,

New Jersey adopted its first constitution on July 2, 1776, which stated, �all
inhabitants of the Colony of full Age, who are worth Fifty Pounds�shall be
entitled to vote for Representatives in Council and Assembly,� granting certain
women in New Jersey the right to vote; and

Whereas,

In 1790, the New Jersey Legislature passed an electoral reform bill for seven
of the 13 counties of the State using the pronouns �he or she,� further
solidifying women�s suffrage; and

Whereas,

In 1797, when a new election law extended the vote to land-owning women Statewide,
the proportion of voting women increased, and by 1802, it was reported that eligible
women were about 25 percent of total turnout; and

Whereas,

This time period produced incredible stories of the exercise of democratic
rights, including an 1801 State election in Montgomery Township, Somerset
County for which there were 343 voters, nearly 50 of whom were women, which was
nearly 14 percent of voters on the list, and included at least four free African
American male voters; and

Whereas,

Some of the women who bravely voted, 119 years before women�s right to vote was
enshrined in the federal Constitution, were Margaret Heaveday, Mary Davis, Mary
Hagerman, Littey VanArsdalen, Mariah Sutton, Live Eatton, Mary McCullough, Caty
Fleming, Sarah McMacking, Kesiah Ellis, Susan Ellis, Amy Cheston, Charity
Millet Jr., Charity Millet Sr., Unis Lanning (or Lansing), Mary Vorhees, Jane
Stuphen, Elizabeth Cork, Betsy Mattison, Mary Merrit, Pheby Davis, Pheby
Wiggins, Sarah Camble, Grace Little, Lidia Scott, Mary Norris, Hetty (Betty)
Gaw, Hannah Shelton, Eleanor Leonard, Mary Robertson, Ann Olden, Sarah
Johnston, Mary McComb, Ann Mershon, Nancy Oppie, Caty Stout, Nelly Stout, Mary
Beltie, Elizabeth Stout, Ruth Carle, Ann VanDike, Rebeka VanDike, Catherine
VanDike, Jane Huneman, Sarah VanDike, Anna Leigh, Elizabeth Skillman, and
Margaret Dimnes; and

Whereas,

Eligible women enjoyed voting rights until 1807, when the New Jersey
Legislature passed a law restricting suffrage to tax-paying, White men after
accusations of voting fraud were made in an 1807 local election, claiming that
men were dressing up as women in order to vote twice after more ballots were
cast than there were eligible voters; and

Whereas,

This was also believed to have been done to give the Democratic-Republican
Party an advantage in the 1808 presidential election, since women often voted
for the opposing Federalist Party; and

Whereas,

In 1844, a second State Constitution was ratified which restricted the right to
vote to White male citizens ages 21 and older; and

Whereas,

Women�s suffrage was not granted to New Jerseyans again until the 19th
Amendment to the United States Constitution was ratified in 1920; and

Whereas,

Leading up to the ratification of the 19th Amendment, New Jersey women spent
over 100 years protesting, bringing legal challenges, attempting to vote,
conducting hunger strikes, being verbally and physically attacked by the public
and the police, being arrested during protests, authoring papers, and more in a
hard-won fight for suffrage; and

Whereas,

One hundred and six years after the passage of the 19th Amendment, it is
important for all New Jerseyans to learn and reflect on the long and
complicated history of women�s suffrage in this State; now, therefore,

����
Be It
Resolved
by the Senate of the State of New
Jersey:

���� 1.��� This House recognizes
the history of women�s suffrage in New Jersey and honors the first women to
cast their ballot in this State more than 200 years ago.

���� 2.��� Copies of this
resolution, as filed with the Secretary of State, shall be transmitted by the
Secretary of the Senate to the League of Women Voters of New Jersey, the New
Jersey National Organization for Women, and the National Women�s History
Museum.

STATEMENT

����� This Senate Resolution
recognizes the history of women�s suffrage in New Jersey and honors the first
women to cast their ballots in this State more than 200 years ago.� New Jersey
has a long and complicated history with women�s suffrage, as it was one of few
states in the nation in which women were granted the right to vote upon our
State�s founding, only for the right to be taken away over 30 years later.�

���� New Jersey adopted its first
constitution on July 2, 1776, which stated, �all inhabitants of the Colony of
full Age, who are worth Fifty Pounds�shall be entitled to vote for
Representatives in Council and Assembly,� granting certain women in New Jersey
the right to vote.� In 1790, the New Jersey Legislature passed an electoral
reform bill for seven of the 13 counties using the pronouns �he or she,�
further solidifying women�s suffrage.� In 1797, when a new election law
extended the vote to land-owning women Statewide, the proportion of voting
women increased, and by 1802, it was reported that eligible women were about 25
percent of total turnout.

���� This time period produced
incredible stories of the exercise of democratic rights, including an 1801
State election in Montgomery Township, Somerset County for which there were 343
voters, nearly 50 of whom were women, which was nearly 14 percent of voters on
the list, and included at least four free African American male voters.

���� Some of the women who bravely
voted in the 1801 Montgomery Township election, 119 years before women�s right
to vote was enshrined in the federal Constitution, were Margaret Heaveday, Mary
Davis, Mary Hagerman, Littey VanArsdalen, Mariah Sutton, Live Eatton, Mary
McCullough, Caty Fleming, Sarah McMacking, Kesiah Ellis, Susan Ellis, Amy
Cheston, Charity Millet Jr., Charity Millet Sr., Unis Lanning (or Lansing),
Mary Vorhees, Jane Stuphen, Elizabeth Cork, Betsy Mattison, Mary Merrit, Pheby
Davis, Pheby Wiggins, Sarah Camble, Grace Little, Lidia Scott, Mary Norris,
Hetty (Betty) Gaw, Hannah Shelton, Eleanor Leonard, Mary Robertson, Ann Olden,
Sarah Johnston, Mary McComb, Ann Mershon, Nancy Oppie, Caty Stout, Nelly Stout,
Mary Beltie, Elizabeth Stout, Ruth Carle, Ann VanDike, Rebeka VanDike,
Catherine VanDike, Jane Huneman, Sarah VanDike, Anna Leigh, Elizabeth Skillman,
and Margaret Dimnes.

���� Eligible women enjoyed voting
rights until 1807, when the New Jersey Legislature passed a law restricting
suffrage to tax-paying, White men after accusations of voting fraud were made
in an 1807 local election, claiming that men were dressing up as women in order
to vote twice after more ballots were cast than there were eligible voters.�
This was also believed to have been done to give the Democratic-Republican
Party an advantage in the 1808 presidential election, since women often voted
for the opposing Federalist Party.

���� In 1844, a second State
Constitution was ratified which restricted the right to vote to White male
citizens ages 21 and older.� Women�s suffrage was not granted to New Jerseyans
again until the 19th Amendment to the United States Constitution was ratified
in 1920.

����� Leading up to the
ratification of the 19th Amendment, New Jersey women spent over 100 years
protesting, bringing legal challenges, attempting to vote, conducting hunger
strikes, being verbally and physically attacked by the public and the police,
being arrested during protests, authoring papers, and more in a hard-won fight
for suffrage.� One hundred and six years after the passage of the 19th
Amendment, it is important for all New Jerseyans to learn and reflect on the
long and complicated history of women�s suffrage in this State.

�