“Women of Salem to Vote First,” Salem Daily Capital Journal, November 09, 1912, 1.
-Transcription
Women of Salem to Vote First
Equal Suffrage Law in Effect – First Election in State Under It Will Be Held in Salem December 2
City Recorder Charles F. Elgin and his help are looking forward with pleasure to the days yet intervening before the regular city election on December 2. The cause is that 2000 or 3000 women will probably visit the recorder’s office during that time to register as legal voters of the city.
The equal suffrage law goes into immediate effect, even without the proclamation of the governor, which is merely formal. However, the proclamation will be issued as soon as the complete vote is in. It will fall to the women of Salem to be the first women in the state to cast votes in any election.
City Recorder Elgin says that it will be necessary for him to employ about two additional clerks when the registration books open again the first of the week. To add to the strenuousness of the work in his office, the clerks will be required to mail to every voter in the city pamphlets explaining the measures to be voted on.