THE NEW YORK TIMES: Adherents to biblical patriarchy support household voting: One household, one vote — the husband’s. They say the idea is catching on.
When they prayed on the Sunday after Valentine’s Day, as on other Sundays, most of the women at King’s Way Reformed Church in the old mining town of Prescott, Ariz., wore dainty kerchiefs knotted over their hair to show devotion to God. Marybelle East, 36, wore hers all the time, she said — seven days a week — “for him to see that I submit to his authority.” Her husband’s authority, that is.
Her head scarf is a physical reminder of biblical patriarchy, the kind of marriage the church preaches. “It keeps me from running my mouth,” she said.
To her and the other women, patriarchy also means ceding their political voices to their husbands. They believe America would be better off if women could not vote.
The Easts and their children had driven two hours from the Phoenix area to hear Dale Partridge, the 40-year-old pastor based on the outskirts of Prescott, in a brick-and-glass events space set between a regional airport and a modest golf course.
On social media, the pastor has attracted a following by posting incendiary commentary: railing against feminists, Catholics and gay people, describing immigration as “national suicide,” and labeling Islam and Hinduism “demonic.” He also calls for erasing women’s suffrage, which he lists as one reason “the world is falling apart.”
The 1920 passage of the 19th Amendment, the landmark legislative achievement of the movement to make women equal citizens, made it possible for women across America to vote. But for Mr. Partridge and a growing number of like-minded Christians, it drove America into national decline. Instead, they support “household voting.” One household, one vote — the husband’s. » | Vivian Yee | Reporting from Prescott, Ariz. | Thursday, April 2, 2026
