Dakota Datebook: Partial suffrage, part 2 Monday, March 16, 2020

Prairie Public

On this date in 1920, women in North Dakota were able to participate in their first presidential primary, thanks to the passage of partial suffrage in the state legislature. The Bismarck Tribune recorded this shift in voting rights, saying it was the “first time in the history of North Dakota that women will have an opportunity to express their preference for presidential candidates.”

Back then, nominees to serve as delegates in national party conventions were subject to statewide election. And though the state now allowed women to vote in the primary, there was dissent over whether they could vote for the delegates to the national political conventions—or if they could even be nominated for this honor. Nevertheless, Minnie Nielson, Republican, and Mrs. M.A. Rudd, NPL-Republican, had been nominated as delegates to the Republican convention.  

Read more at: https://news.prairiepublic.org/post/partial-suffrage-part-2