Page:History of Woman Suffrage Volume 6.djvu/146

 register and vote in the primary on September 8 and the runover primary of October 6 for the general election because they had not registered for it in April and May, which they had no right to do. When the Legislature had assembled June 23, Mrs. McLendon, Mrs. Martin and Mrs. Woodall had called on Representatives Covington and John Y. Smith and Senators Elders Dorris and Pittman and begged them to introduce an Enabling Act to provide for the women to vote in November if the 10th Amendment should be ratified. They promised faithfully to do this and the Senators did so, but it was held back. The Representatives never did introduce it. Mrs. McLendon then appealed to Governor Dorsey, but he was candidate for U. S. Senator and had no time to attend to it. The Legislature adjourned and the women were left in the lurch.

Then Mrs. McLendon decided to make a test and see if women could not vote in the primary on September 8, as the returned soldiers who did not reach Georgia before May were allowed to vote in all elections without registering. She wired to Senator Fermor Barrett of Stevens county, chairman of the sub-committee of the State Democratic Executive Committee, asking him to call it together and see if it could provide some way. He called it to meet in Atlanta on September 3, and he and H. H. Dean made speeches and voted to try to arrange it, but the other five members voted against it. Mrs. McLendon then went to the chairman of the County Democratic Executive Committee and he refused to take any action, saying, "Our committee is only the agent of the State committee and must obey its mandates." Then she and Mrs. Julia H. Ellington, Mrs. Jane Adkins and Mrs. Nancy Duncan called on the tax collector and asked to be allowed to pay their State and county taxes and to register. They were sent to the chairman of the Registration Committee and he also refused to enroll their names. Then they went to the polls September 8 and were told, "No women voting here."

Mrs. McLendon telegraphed to Bainbridge Colby, Secretary of State, who answered: 'The matter to which you refer is not within the province of this Department and I am not in a position to give you any advice with regard thereto." She next asked Governor Dorsey to call an extra session of the Legislature