When women could first vote in 1920, the resulting atmospheric changes at polling locations included no more fights, profanity, or smoking.

“And no trouble, never no trouble any more,” the Veteran regretted. “In the old days we could always run in a couple of guys, there was always rows. There’s nothing doing any more. Since the women’s been mixing in, politics ain’t the same.”

….

The proceedings everywhere had a most domestic flavor. Parenthetically it may be recorded that not a bit of profanity did [people] hear all evening, and in only one place did they see an election official smoking. “And he’s an old man — been with the party for years,” an official hastened to explain.

In 2020, you never really see physical fights or smoking at polling locations, and any profanity is surely murmured under one’s breath rather than shouted loud. Another change at polling locations from a century ago is the NRA-inspired prevalence in recent years and decades of open carry laws. According to an August article from the National Confederence of State Legislatures, 11 states explicitly ban guns and other weapons at polling places. That number is apparently now 12, since just yesterday Michigan joined their ranks.

In other words, 38 states have no such explicit ban — including a surprising number of blue states such as Hawaii, Massachusetts, Maryland, Vermont, New York, Illinois, Washington, Rhode Island, New Jersey, and Connecticut. And the list of states which have instituted such a ban includes such surprising red or red-adjacent states as Arizona, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, Ohio, South Carolina, and Texas.

How Woman Goes to Vote: Her Ways at Polling Places, as Observed in the Recent Registration Lines

Published: Sunday, October 17, 1920