Wisconsin Question 1, Suffrage for African Americans Referendum (1857)

Wisconsin Question 1
Election date November 3, 1857
Topic Race and ethnicity and Suffrage
Status Defeated
Type Legislatively referred state statute	Origin State legislature

Wisconsin Question 1 was on the ballot as a legislatively referred state statute in Wisconsin on November 3, 1857. It was defeated.

A "yes" vote supported providing suffrage to African American men over the age of 21.

A "no" vote opposed providing suffrage to African American men over the age of 21.

Election results

Wisconsin Question 1
Result		Votes	Prozentualer Anteil
Yes		28,235	40.58%
No		41,345	59.42%

Results are officially certified.

Source

Aftermath

In the case of Gillespie v Palmer in 1866, Ezekiel Gillespie, one of the leaders of black community in Milwaukee, tried to register to vote for the 1865 general election, but was denied by election inspectors. With his attorney, Byron Paine, Gillespie took the case to the state supreme court. Gillespie and Paine argued that voters had given the right to vote to African Americans in 1849. The election inspectors argued that while the 1849 vote had been approved a majority of votes counted, it had not been approved by a majority of those who had voted that day. The supreme court ruled in favor of Gillespie, stating:

To declare a measure or law adopted or defeated – not by the number of votes cast directly for or against it, but by the number cast for and against some other measure, or for the candidates for some office or offices not connected with the measure itself, would not only be out of the ordinary course of legislation, but, so far as we know, a thing unknown in the history of constitutional law. It would be saying that the vote of every person who voted for any candidate for any office at such election, and did not vote on the suffrage question, should be a vote against the extension of suffrage.

Since the court ruled that African Americans had held the right to vote in Wisconsin since 1849, the outcome of the 1857 measure became moot.

Text of measure

The language that appeared on the ballot:

For extension of suffrage
For the extension of suffrage, no

Notes:

• The two statements would have been printed on separate tickets to put in a ballot box.

Support

Arguments

• Richland County Observer : "All people, whether white or black, who are in the United States, are governed by the laws of the United States, and those who abide by laws should have as much as a voice in electing law makers."

Opposition

Arguments

• The Argus & Democrat : "We want no negro equality for it is a physical and mental impossibility ; we want no political equality, for it would bring with it negro rulers ; we want no negro sociality for it would degrade and brutify our race."

Path to the ballot

In Wisconsin, a referred state statute is required for laws that extend "the right of suffrage to additional classes," per Article III, Section 2 of the Wisconsin Constitution. Before 1902, referred statutes were required for laws that affect banking.

A simple majority vote is required during two legislative sessions for the Wisconsin State Legislature to place a referred statute on the ballot. That amounts to a minimum of 50 votes in the Wisconsin State Assembly and 17 votes in the Wisconsin State Senate, assuming no vacancies. Statutes require the governor's signature to be referred to the ballot.

See also

1857 Measures

• 1857 Measures
• Suffrage on the ballot
• Race and ethnicity on the ballot
• 1857 legislative sessions

Wisconsin

• Wisconsin ballot measures
• Wisconsin ballot measure laws

News and analysis

• Ballot measure lawsuits
• Ballot measure readability
• Ballot measure polls