1915 Pennsylvania Amendment 1

Last updated November 22, 2025

1915 Pennsylvania Amendment 1, also known as the Pennsylvania Women's Suffrage Amendment,^[1] was a proposed amendment to the Pennsylvania Constitution to grant women the right to vote. The amendment was defeated in a 46.63% to 53.37% vote, with a bare majority of 34 out of 67 counties voting against.

Background

In March 1915, Pennsylvania's legislature passed a bill that added the referendum to the November 1915 ballot.

In the lead up to the election, Hannah Patterson made calls for a Pennsylvania Woman Suffrage Party Convention to take place in Harrisburg, in order to plan out the final push to get out the vote. Attendants of the convention included Suffrage Party leaders and legislative leaders.

The calendar developed at the convention was as follows:

"May and June 1915: Open-air work, especially street meetings to continue through the summer and fall. July 1915: auto tours of rural sections. August 1915: suffrage booths at county fairs. September 1915: Headquarters at full strength so that the climax of the campaign – a house to house canvass of registered voters – can be carried out effectively".^[2]

Viewpoints

Legislators

Democrat Joseph H. Guffey: "I strongly favor woman suffrage. I shall vote to give the women of Pennsylvania the ballot and I shall give them all the personal support in my power."^[3]

Results

County	"Yes" vote	"No" vote	Yes %	No %
Adams	1,279	2,908	30.55	69.45
Allegheny	50,557	47,539	51.54	48.46
Armstrong	3,277	2,587	55.88	44.12
Beaver	5,710	2,982	65.69	34.31
Bedford	1,396	3,176	30.53	69.47
Berks	7,302	13,355	35.35	64.65
Blair	6,857	5,745	54.41	45.59
Bradford	4,065	1,859	68.62	31.38
Bucks	3,349	7,090	32.08	67.92
Butler	4,795	3,660	56.71	43.29
Cambria	7,583	6,480	53.92	46.08
Cameron	325	192	62.86	37.14
Carbon	2,685	3,034	46.95	53.05
Centre	2,330	3,392	40.72	59.28
Chester	7,429	6,035	55.18	44.82
Clarion	2,158	1,539	58.37	41.63
Clearfield	4,999	2,825	63.89	36.11
Clinton	2,004	1,658	54.72	45.28
Columbia	2,402	2,652	47.53	52.47
Crawford	4,736	2,596	64.59	35.41
Cumberland	2,442	4,379	35.80	64.20
Dauphin	7,549	9,242	44.96	55.04
Delaware	8,147	9,229	46.89	53.11
Elk	1,276	2,216	36.54	63.46
Erie	7,123	4,695	60.27	39.73
Fayette	6,915	5,470	55.83	44.17
Forest	674	259	72.24	27.76
Franklin	2,958	3,498	45.82	54.18
Fulton	473	862	35.43	64.57
Greene	1,694	2,070	45.01	54.99
Huntingdon	1,789	2,381	42.90	57.10
Indiana	2,639	2,252	53.96	46.04
Jefferson	4,572	2,343	66.12	33.88
Juniata	527	1,410	27.21	72.79
Lackawanna	11,319	8,666	56.64	43.36
Lancaster	6,554	13,343	32.94	67.06
Lawrence	5,020	2,829	63.96	36.04
Lebanon	1,511	4,211	26.41	73.59
Lehigh	4,184	10,373	28.74	71.26
Luzerne	14,639	11,500	56.00	44.00
Lycoming	4,222	4,790	46.85	53.15
McKean	3,321	1,164	74.05	25.95
Mercer	6,329	2,997	67.86	32.14
Mifflin	1,179	1,577	42.78	57.22
Monroe	926	1,286	41.86	58.14
Montgomery	8,709	13,024	40.07	59.93
Montour	718	953	42.97	57.03
Northampton	4,383	7,814	35.94	64.06
Northumberland	6,110	6,010	50.41	49.59
Perry	1,051	2,111	33.24	66.76
Philadelphia	77,247	122,519	38.67	61.33
Pike	341	463	42.41	57.59
Potter	2,030	979	67.46	32.54
Schuylkill	6,726	7,769	46.40	53.60
Snyder	595	1,667	26.30	73.70
Somerset	2,634	3,937	40.09	59.91
Sullivan	463	490	48.58	51.42
Susquehanna	2,779	1,547	64.24	35.76
Tioga	2,912	1,704	63.08	46.92
Union	641	1,056	37.77	62.23
Venango	4,464	2,397	65.06	34.94
Warren	2,616	1,241	67.82	32.18
Washington	7,215	5,504	56.73	43.27
Wayne	1,731	1,228	58.50	41.50
Westmoreland	12,421	11,281	52.40	47.60
Wyoming	994	904	52.37	47.63
York	5,348	12,090	30.67	69.33
State total	385,348	441,034	46.63	53.37^[4]

Later events

On June 24, 1919, Pennsylvania's legislature voted to ratify the Nineteenth Amendment. On August 18, 1920, the 36th state needed for ratification approved the amendment. The U.S. Secretary of State certified the amendment on August 26, 1920.^[5]

References

↑ "Pennsylvania Women's Suffrage Amendment (1915)". Ballotpedia. Archived from the original on 1 October 2025. Retrieved 1 October 2025.
↑ "THE CAMPAIGN IN PENNSYLVANIA IN 1915". Wilson Edu. Archived from the original on 1 June 2023. Retrieved 2 October 2025.
↑ "Founding Feminists: October 25, 1915". Feminist Majority Foundation. Archived from the original on 1 October 2025. Retrieved 1 October 2025.
↑ "STATE REFERENDA ON WOMAN SUFFRAGE PENNSYLVANIA". Archived from the original on 1 October 2025. Retrieved 1 October 2025.
↑ "PA House Celebrates 100 Years of Women's Suffrage" (PDF). PA House Archives. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2 October 2025. Retrieved 2 October 2025.