Wisconsin to commemorate women’s right to vote anniversary

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Some of the most powerful women in Wisconsin state government are coming together to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the state’s ratification of the 19th Amendment.

Wisconsin was the first state in the country to ratify the amendment, which gave women the right to vote. The state approved it in June 1919 and the 36th state ratified it more than a year later making it law.

Gov. Tony Evers on Thursday signed an executive order creating a committee to celebrate the anniversary of Wisconsin ratifying the amendment. His wife, Kathy Evers, will chair the bipartisan all-female committee which includes Wisconsin Supreme Court Chief Justice Pat Roggensack, former lieutenant governors Barb Lawton and Rebecca Kleefisch and eight state lawmakers.