From collection Candidates
Ella S. Brown was a candidate for the office of County Superintendent of Instruction in Wright County. Iowa in 1887. The local board of canvassers first declared Brown's male opponent as the winner of the race. Brown appealed the decision and the district court agreed that ballots cast in her favor had been illegally dismissed. Her opponent J.R. McCollum appealed to the state Supreme Court on the grounds that only electors in Iowa could challenge the outcome of elections. As women were not electors, Brown could not legally challenge the outcome of that race. The Supreme Court disagreed, allowing that state legislation made women eligible for school offices and that candidates did not have to be electors.
