The 19th amendment to the U.S. Constitution prohibited states and the federal government from denying women the right to vote on an equal basis with men. It was ratified on August 18, 1920.

In Florida, the women's suffrage movement had pushed for equal voting rights for years before the right was secured through the U.S. Constitution. Advocates were successful in getting a proposed amendment to the Florida Constitution mandating in the Florida Legislature as early as 1913. That and subsequent bills were unable to get the required three-fifths majorities in the legislature.

On the local level, the town of Fellsmere (west of Vero Beach) was incorporated in 1913 with an equal voting rights provision in its charter. The municipality of Moore Haven, located on the southern shore of Lake Okeechobee, passed a ordinance providing for women's suffrage in 1917, and soon thereafter Marian Horowitz was elected its mayor.