As the 19th Amendment just had its 93rd birthday, one West Virginia town just learned that its charter still bans women from voting.
The Intelligencer/Wheeling News Register reported earlier this week that Sistersville, W.Va. underwent an unexpected change in its leadership over the summer. Mayor David Fox resigned in the middle of his fourth term to be closer to family, and in the process of addressing the necessary replacement, the Wall Street Journal reports that Sistersville became aware of the voting-related rhetoric in the document.
The Tyler Star News adds that Councilwoman Ann Doig was named Fox's interim replacement on Monday. Doig will serve until March elections are held, and one of her first tasks as female mayor is addressing the discovery.
"Even though there's some silly stuff in there, our attorney advised us that we cannot go against the Constitution," Doig told the paper. "That's one of the things I want to work on after I get settled in. But to change a charter is extremely expensive."
Amid clamors for amending the charter, another factor at hand is cost. The Wall Street Journal's report notes that changing the language would be a pricey endeavor.
“We don’t need to amend it because the Nineteenth Amendment takes care of it,” Sistersville city recorder Julie Schleier told Law Blog, according to the Wall Street Journal. “It would be a waste of paperwork.”
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