The 19th Amendment by the Numbers

The number of years of organized advocacy it took for women to gain the right to vote, dating from the Seneca Falls convention in 1848 to the adoption of the 19th Amendment in 1920.

The estimated number of people who attended the women’s rights convention in 1848 in Seneca Falls, New York, marking the beginning of widespread activism for women’s suffrage.

The first U.S. territory or state to grant full voting rights to women. It did so in 1869.

The year an amendment for women’s suffrage was first introduced in the U.S. Senate.

The estimated number of people who marched in the women’s suffrage parade in Washington, D.C., the day before President Woodrow Wilson’s inauguration in 1913. Reports of the event were widely circulated, reinvigorating the movement and garnering additional support for the cause.

The combined total number of signatures on a series of petitions that suffragists presented to the U.S. Senate on July 13, 1913, asking for the right to vote.

The number of states that had given women full voting rights prior to the 19th Amendment. Women in two territories (Alaska and Montana) also had full suffrage. Another 12 states had granted partial voting rights to women, limiting their vote to certain races, such as presidential or municipal elections.

The number of years it took for the 19th Amendment to pass both houses of Congress after being first introduced in 1878. The House of Representatives passed the amendment on May 21, 1919, and the Senate followed on June 4, 1919.

The number of states — a two-thirds majority — needed to ratify the 19th Amendment for it to become law.

The 36th state to ratify the 19th Amendment, doing so on Aug. 18, 1920.

The day the 19th Amendment was signed into law by then-Secretary of State Bainbridge Colby. In 1971 Congress designated that day as Women’s Equality Day.

The first year women voted at higher rates than men in a presidential election. This trend has continued in every presidential election since. 

The percentage of eligible Black women who voted in the 2016 presidential election, the highest voter turnout rate among all racial, ethnic, and gender groups.

The percentage of eligible women who voted in the 2018 midterm election, compared with 52% of men.