Votes for Women 1918

Liverpool Daily Post 19 August 1918

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VOTES FOR WOMEN

THE POSITION OF UNDERAGE ARMY OFFICIALS

A Wallasey magistrate has raised an interesting point in regard to the qualification of women for the Parliamentary franchise. He claimed a vote for his daughter, despite the fact that she is under the specified age of thirty, on the ground that she was entitled as an inspector of the Canteens Board, it having been laid down by the War Office that women holding such positions were entitled to the vote. In reply to the contention that no woman may be placed upon the list of Parliamentary voters until she was attained the age of thirty years the claiming magistrate argued that his daughter was to all intents and purposes a soldier and that the Act specifically allowed soldiers under age to have the vote. Usually both sexes are included in any Parliamentary provision, so that it is argued that where a stipulation is made in regard to men under the legal age of twenty-one, it should also be taken to apply to women under the legal age of thirty. This contention has been allowed in certain other districts but the registration officer for Wallasey (the Town-clerk) has disallowed the claim referred to. An appeal against his decision to the County Court judge is probable.

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I found this article interesting for several reasons, obviously the Votes for Women headline is striking but then the article reminded me that women weren't immediately given the same rights to vote as men, not least because of the age requirement. I was also struck by the actions of this father, who obviously felt his daughter was as entitled to vote as any soldier. I'll keep an eye out for any follow up to this story, I hope she got her vote!