Nineteenth Amendment To The United States Constitution - Leser V. Garnett

The amendment's validity was unanimously upheld in Leser v. Garnett, 258 U.S. 130 (1922).

Oscar Leser sued to stop two women registered to vote in Baltimore, Maryland, because he believed that the Maryland Constitution limited the suffrage to men and the Maryland legislature had refused to vote to ratify the Nineteenth Amendment. Two months before, the federal government had proclaimed the amendment incorporated into the Constitution on August 26, 1920.

First, Leser said the amendment "destroyed State autonomy" because it increased Maryland's electorate without the state's consent. The Court answered that the Nineteenth Amendment was worded like the Fifteenth Amendment, which had expanded state electorates without regard to race for over 50 years by that time despite being rejected by six states, including Maryland.

Second, Leser claimed that the state constitutions in some ratifying states did not allow their legislatures to ratify. The Court replied that state ratification was a federal function which came from Article V of the Constitution and so is not subject to limitations by a state constitution.

Third, those bringing suit asserted the Nineteenth Amendment was not adopted, because Tennessee and West Virginia violated their own rules of procedure. The Court ruled that the point was moot, because since then Connecticut and Vermont had ratified the amendment and so there was a sufficient number of ratifications for the Nineteenth Amendment to be considered adopted even without Tennessee and West Virginia. Also, the Court ruled that Tennessee and West Virginia's certifying of their ratifications was binding and had been duly authenticated by the Secretary of State.

Thus, the two women were permitted to be registered to vote in Baltimore.