The Supreme Court ruled that states could constitutionally refuse to allow women citizens the right to vote.
Virginia Minor, a feminist leader, was denied the right to register to vote in Missouri. She argued that the state’s voter registration officer, Reese Happersett, had violated her rights, which were protected by the citizenship and the privileges and immunities clauses of the Fourteenth Amendment. The Supreme Court unanimously rejected her claim. Speaking for the Court, Chief Justice Morrison R. Waite
The Minor precedent remained in effect until the ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment
Fifteenth Amendment
Fourteenth Amendment
Gender issues
Privileges and immunities
Reynolds v. Sims
Vote, right to