Women's suffrage in Arizona

The movement for women's suffrage in Arizona began in the late 1800s. After women's suffrage was narrowly voted down at the 1891 Arizona Constitutional Convention, prominent suffragettes such as Josephine Brawley Hughes and Laura M. Johns formed the Arizona Suffrage Association and began touring the state campaigning for women's right to vote. Momentum built throughout the decade, and after a strenuous campaign in 1903, a woman's suffrage bill passed both houses of the legislature but was ultimately vetoed by Governor Alexander Oswald Brodie.

Efforts picked up again in 1910 when suffragettes Frances Munds and Pauline O'Neill formed the Arizona Equal Suffrage Association (AESA) and focused on the upcoming Arizona Constitutional Convention. After women's suffrage was again defeated, Munds launched a petition drive to put women's suffrage on the November ballot. She and others succeeded in obtaining the requisite number of signatures, and after a strong campaign, the initiative passed in a landslide vote on November 5, 1912. Women were first able to register to vote in 1913 and voted in the state's primary election in 1914. However, some groups still faced barriers due to literacy tests.