In the early 20th Century states gradually began to pass laws giving the vote to women, and in 1920 the Nineteenth Amendment went into effect, guaranteeing suffrage for women nationwide. This gradual, and then finally significant increase in the number of citizens eligible to vote was not matched by a corresponding increase in people voting. So while there were 26.7 million votes cast in the 1920 election compared to 14 million votes in 1900, turnout percentage dropped from 73.2% to 49.2%.