Hence New York can get no power from that source to
disfranchise one entire half of her members. Nor has "the judgment of
their peers" been pronounced against women exercising their right to
vote; no disfranchised person is allowed to be judge or juror--and none
but disfranchised persons can be women's peers; nor has the legislature
passed laws excluding them on account of idiocy or lunacy; nor yet the
courts convicted them of bribery, larceny, or any infamous crime.
Clearly, then, there is no constitutional ground for the exclusion of
women from the ballot-box in the State of New York. No barriers whatever
stand to-day between women and the exercise of their right to vote save
those of precedent and prejudice.
The clauses of the United States Constitution, cited by our opponents as
giving power to the States to disfranchise any classes of citizens they
shall please, are contained in sections 2d and 4th of article 1st. The
second says:
"The House of Representatives shall be composed of members chosen
every second year by the people of the several States; and the
electors in each State shall have the qualifications requisite for
electors of the most numerous branch of the State Legislature."
This cannot be construed into a concession to the States of the power to
destroy the right to become an elector, but simply to prescribe what
shall be the qualifications, such as competency of intellect, maturity
of age, length of residence, that shall be deemed necessary to enable
them to make an intelligent choice of candidates.
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