Women gain the right to vote in Utah Territory

Background. The Territory of Utah was an organized incorporated territory of the United States from September 9, 1850, until January 4, 1896, when it was admitted as the 45th state. In 1869, the territory's legislature, the Territorial Assembly, approved and ratified women's suffrage. On 12 February 1870, Utah Territory extended the right to vote to free white women who were US citizens, aged 21 or older. This grant came in the pre-federal period, decades before statehood, and only Wyoming granted suffrage to women earlier among all U.S. states.

Motivations. Male leaders within the LDS Church moved to enfranchise women. William Henry Hooper stated the goal was to convince the country that assertions about Utah women were unfounded. The Godbe movement also encouraged women's rights, believing enfranchisement would strengthen the church and challenge the portrayal of polygamy as modern slavery.

First Votes. Seraph Young Ford became the first American woman to vote under equal suffrage laws on February 14, 1870, two days after the legislature's decision. She cast her ballot in the Salt Lake City municipal election. Other women voted in municipal elections that spring, and thousands cast ballots in the general election on August 1, 1870.