In the 1910s, Washington voters made several progressive changes to their system of elections. In 1910, male voters ratified Amendment 6 to the state constitution granting women the right to vote. Additional amendments in 1912 implemented a system of direct legislation calling for a process of initiatives, referenda, and recalls. With these changes, the November 1914 election was the first time men and women of Washington State could participate in a system of direct legislation. With seven initiatives and two referenda on the ballet, the Secretary of State was required to produce Washington’s first statewide voters’ pamphlet. The most debated measure was Initiative 3, which proposed statewide prohibition. This pamphlet includes nine pages of the text of the initiative, a one-page statement in favor of prohibition by the State-wide Prohibition Committee of Washington, and six pages of statements in opposition provided by the Brewers Association of the Northwest, Anti-prohibition Association, and the State Hop Growers Association.

This image shows the cover of the 1914 Washington State voter pamphlet. A pdf with the full text of the pamphlet is available on the website of the Washington Secretarty of State at https://www.sos.wa.gov/_assets/elections/voters'%20pamphlet%201914.pdf

Caption information source: Washington voters exercise the powers to pass initiatives and to directly elect United States senators for the first time as they enact Prohibition and re-elect Wesley L. Jones on November 3, 1914,” by Kit Oldham, HistoryLink.org Essay 9950
Caption information source: With women voting, Washington voters favor Progressive Theodore Roosevelt for president, approve initiative, referendum, and recall powers, and elect first women to statewide office and to legislature on November 5, 1912, by David Wilma and Kit Oldham, HistoryLink.org Essay 5589