View source for Suffrage

{{short description|Right to vote in public and political elections}}
{{distinguish|Universal suffrage}}
{{redirect-multi|3|Right to vote|Suffragist|The Franchise|the group|Right to Vote|the organisation|National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies|other uses|The Franchise (disambiguation)}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2024}}
[[File:Voters standing in the queue to cast their votes, at a polling booth, during the 9th Phase of General Elections-2014, in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh on May 12, 2014.jpg|upright=1.5|thumb|People queuing and showing their [[identity document]]s for voting in the [[2014 Indian general election]]]]
'''Suffrage''', '''political franchise''', or simply '''franchise''' is the '''right to vote''' in [[representative democracy|public, political elections]] and [[referendum]]s (although the term is sometimes used for any right to [[vote]]).<ref>{{Cite American Heritage Dictionary|suffrage}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/suffrage |title=Definition of "suffrage" – Collins English Dictionary |access-date=28 July 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/us/definition/english/suffrage |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131127122120/http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/us/definition/english/suffrage |url-status=dead |archive-date=27 November 2013 |title=suffrage – definition of suffrage in English from the Oxford dictionary |access-date=28 July 2015}}</ref> In some languages, and occasionally in English, the right to vote is called '''active suffrage''', as distinct from [[passive suffrage]], which is the right to stand for election.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://aceproject.org/main/english/lf/lfd02.htm |title=Deprivation of the Right to Vote |website=ACE Electoral Knowledge Network |publisher=Aceproject.org}}</ref> The combination of active and passive suffrage is sometimes called ''full suffrage''.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.glbtqarchive.com/ssh/womens_suffrage_movement_S.pdf |title=Women's Suffrage Movement |publisher=glbtq |url-status=live |first=Tina |year=2015 |last=Gianoulis |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190329083246/http://glbtqarchive.com/ssh/womens_suffrage_movement_S.pdf |archive-date=29 March 2019}}</ref>

In most democracies, eligible voters can vote in elections for representatives. Voting on issues by referendum ([[direct democracy]]) may also be available. For example, in [[Switzerland]], this is permitted at all levels of government. In the [[United States]], [[Initiatives and referendums in the United States#Types of initiatives and referendums|some states]] allow citizens the opportunity to write, propose, and vote on referendums ([[popular initiative]]s); other states and the [[United States federal government|federal government]] do not. [[Referendums in the United Kingdom]] are rare.

Suffrage continues to be especially restricted on the basis of [[voting age|age]], [[Non-resident citizen voting|residency]] and [[Non-citizen suffrage|citizenship status]] in many places. In some countries additional restrictions exist. In Great Britain and the United States a felon might lose the right to vote. In some countries being under [[guardianship]] may restrict the right to vote. [[Non-resident citizen voting]] allows [[emigrant]]s and [[expat]]s of some countries to vote in their home country.<ref name="Umpierrez de Reguero 2024">{{cite journal |last1=Umpierrez de Reguero |first1=Sebastián |last2=Finn |first2=Victoria |title=Migrants' intention to vote in two countries, one country, or neither |journal=Journal of Elections, Public Opinion and Parties |volume=34 |issue=3 |date=2 July 2024 |issn=1745-7289 |doi=10.1080/17457289.2023.2189727 |pages=466–489 |hdl=1814/75483 |hdl-access=free}}</ref> Resident [[Right of foreigners to vote|non-citizens can vote]] in some countries, which may be restricted to citizens of closely linked countries (e.g., [[Commonwealth of Nations#Commonwealth citizenship and high commissioners|Commonwealth citizens]] and [[Elections to the European Parliament#Eligibility|European Union citizens]]) or to certain offices or questions.<ref>{{cite web |title=Who is eligible to vote at a UK general election? |url=http://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/faq/voting-and-registration/who-is-eligible-to-vote-at-a-uk-general-election |publisher=The Electoral Commission |postscript=none |access-date=9 February 2016 |archive-date=19 April 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140419134030/http://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/faq/voting-and-registration/who-is-eligible-to-vote-at-a-uk-general-election |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Can I vote? |url=http://www.europarl.org.uk/en/your-meps/european_elections/can_i_vote.html |publisher=European Parliament Information Office in the United Kingdom |postscript=none |access-date=9 February 2016 |archive-date=11 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160311134319/http://www.europarl.org.uk/en/your-meps/european_elections/can_i_vote.html |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Why Can Commonwealth Citizens Vote in the U.K.? An Expat Asks |url=https://blogs.wsj.com/expat/2015/04/27/why-can-commonwealth-citizens-vote-in-the-u-k-an-expat-asks/ |work=The Wall Street Journal |access-date=9 February 2016 |date=27 April 2015}}</ref> [[Multiple citizenship]] typically allows to vote in multiple countries.<ref name="Umpierrez de Reguero 2024"/> Historically the right to vote was more restricted, for example by gender, race, or wealth.

==Etymology==
The word ''suffrage'' comes from [[Latin]] {{Lang|la|suffragium}}, which initially meant "a voting-tablet", "a ballot", "a vote", or "the right to vote". {{Lang|la|Suffragium}} in the second century and later came to mean "political patronage, influence, interest, or support", and sometimes "popular acclaim" or "applause". By the fourth century the word was used for "an intercession", asking a patron for their influence with the Almighty. {{Lang|la|Suffragium}} was used in the fifth and sixth centuries with connection to buying influence or profiteering from appointing to office, and eventually the word referred to the bribe itself.<ref>{{citation |doi=10.2307/588044 |title=Suffragium: From Vote to Patronage |journal=[[The British Journal of Sociology]] |volume=5 |date=March 1954 |publisher=[[The London School of Economics and Political Science]] |author=G. E. M. de Ste. Croix |issue=1 |pages=33–48 |jstor=588044 |author-link=G. E. M. de Ste. Croix}}</ref> William Smith rejects the connection of {{Lang|la|suffragium}} to ''sub'' "under" + ''fragor'' "crash, din, shouts (as of approval)", related to ''frangere'' "to break"; Eduard Wunder writes that the word may be related to ''suffrago'', signifying an ankle bone or knuckle bone.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/secondary/SMIGRA*/Suffragium.html |title=LacusCurtius • Voting in Ancient Rome – Suffragium (Smith's Dictionary, 1875) |publisher=Penelope.uchicago.edu |access-date=21 June 2013}}</ref> In the 17th century the English ''suffrage'' regained the earlier meaning of the Latin ''{{Lang|la|suffragium}}'', "a vote" or "the right to vote".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/suffrage |title=Suffrage |publisher=Merriam-Webster |date=31 August 2012 |access-date=21 June 2013}}</ref>

==Types==

===Universal suffrage===
{{Main|Universal suffrage}}
[[File:Peterloo Massacre.png|thumb|The [[Peterloo Massacre]] of 1819]]
[[Universal suffrage]] would be achieved when all have the right to vote without restriction. It could, for example, look like a system where everyone was presumed to have the right to vote unless a government can prove beyond a reasonable doubt the need to revoke voting rights.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Hamilton |first=Vivian E. |year=2012 |title=Democratic Inclusion, Cognitive Development, and the Age of Electoral Majority |url=https://papers.ssrn.com/abstract=2086875 |language=en |location=Rochester, NY |ssrn=2086875}}</ref> The trend towards universal suffrage has progressed in some democracies by eliminating some or all of the voting restrictions due to gender, race, religion, social status, education level, wealth, [[Non-citizen suffrage|citizenship]], ability and [[Voting age|age]]. However, throughout history the term 'universal suffrage' has meant different things with the different assumptions about the groups that were or were not deemed desirable voters.

==== Early history ====
The short-lived [[Corsican Republic]] (1755–1769) was the first country to grant limited universal suffrage to all citizens over the age of 25.

In 1819, 60–80,000 women and men from 30 miles around Manchester assembled in the city's [[St Peter's Square, Manchester|St. Peter's Square]] to protest their lack of any representation in the Houses of Parliament. Historian [[Robert Poole (historian)|Robert Poole]] has called the [[Peterloo Massacre]] one of the defining moments of its age.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Poole |first1=Robert |author-link=Robert Poole (historian) |title='By the Law or the Sword': Peterloo Revisited |journal=History |volume=2 |issue=302 |date=April 2006 |pages=254–276 |jstor=24427836 |doi=10.1111/j.1468-229X.2006.00366.x}}</ref> (The eponymous ''[[Peterloo (film)|Peterloo]]'' film featured a scene of women suffragists planning their contribution to the protest.) At that time Manchester had a population of around 140,000 and the population totals of [[Demographics of Greater Manchester|Greater Manchester]] were around 490,000.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.visionofbritain.org.uk/data_cube_table_page.jsp?data_theme=T_POP&data_cube=N_TPop&u_id=10056925&c_id=10001043&add=N |title=Greater Manchester Met.C: Total Population |author=A Vision of Britain through time |access-date=6 April 2007}}</ref>

This was followed by other experiments in the [[Paris Commune]] of 1871 and the island republic of [[Franceville, New Hebrides|Franceville]] (1889). From 1840 to 1852, the [[Kingdom of Hawai'i]] granted universal suffrage without mention of sex. In 1893, when the Kingdom of Hawai'i was [[Overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom|overthrown in a coup]], [[New Zealand]] was the only independent country to practice universal (active) suffrage, and the [[Freedom in the World]] index lists New Zealand as the only free country in the world in 1893.<ref>Nohlen, Dieter, e al. (2001). ''Elections in Asia and the Pacific: South East Asia, East Asia, and the South Pacific''. p.&nbsp;14. Oxford University Press, 2001</ref><ref>A. Kulinski, K. Pawlowski. ''The Atlantic Community – The Titanic of the XXI Century''. p.&nbsp;96. WSB-NLU. 2010</ref>

====Women's suffrage====
{{Main|Women's suffrage}}
[[File:SPD-Plakat 1919.jpg|thumb|German election poster from 1919: ''Equal rights – equal duties!'']]

[[Women's suffrage]] is the right of women to vote.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/suffrage |title=Definition of SUFFRAGE |website=merriam-webster.com |language=en |access-date=1 July 2019}}</ref> This was the goal of the suffragists, who believed in using legal means, as well as the [[suffragette]]s, who used extremist measures. Short-lived suffrage equity was drafted into provisions of the State of New Jersey's first, 1776 Constitution, which extended the Right to Vote to unwed female landholders and black land owners.

{{Blockquote|IV. That all inhabitants of this Colony, of full age, who are worth fifty pounds proclamation money, clear estate in the same, and have resided within the county in which they claim a vote for twelve months immediately preceding the election, shall be entitled to vote for Representatives in Council and Assembly; and also for all other public officers, that shall be elected by the people of the county at large. [[New Jersey]] ''1776''}}
However, the document did not specify an Amendment procedure, and the provision was subsequently replaced in 1844 by the adoption of the [[1844 New Jersey Constitution|succeeding constitution]], which reverted to "all white male" suffrage restrictions.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.state.nj.us/njfacts/njdoc10.htm |title=The New Jersey Constitution of 1776 |access-date=17 December 2006}}</ref>

Although the Kingdom of Hawai'i granted female suffrage in 1840, the right was rescinded in 1852. Limited voting rights were gained by some women in Sweden, Britain, and some western U.S. states in the 1860s. In 1893, the British colony of [[New Zealand]] became the first self-governing nation to extend the right to vote to all adult women.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.elections.org.nz/study/education-centre/history/votes-for-women.html |title=Votes for Women |publisher=Electoral Commission of New Zealand |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120819080640/http://www.elections.org.nz/study/education-centre/history/votes-for-women.html |archive-date=19 August 2012 |access-date=11 August 2020}}</ref> In 1894, the women of [[South Australia]] achieved the [[Constitutional Amendment (Adult Suffrage) Act 1894|right to both vote and stand for Parliament]]. The autonomous [[Grand Duchy of Finland]] in the [[Russian Empire]] was the first nation to allow all women to both vote and run for parliament.

==== Anti-women's suffrage propaganda ====
[[File:Anti Suffrage Postcard c.1908 03.jpg|thumb|A British postcard against women's suffrage postcard from {{Circa|1908}}. It shows unflattering [[caricature]]s of suffragettes in front of [[Parliament of the United Kingdom|parliament]] and the caption: "This is the house that man built" with a poem. From the [[People's History Museum]], [[Manchester]].]]
[[File:Votes For Women.jpg|thumb| Britain's [[Women's Social and Political Union|WSPU]] poster by [[Hilda Dallas]], 1909]]
Those against the women's suffrage movement made public organizations to put down the political movement, with the main argument being that a woman's place was in the home, not polls. Political cartoons and public outrage over women's rights increased as the opposition to suffrage worked to organize legitimate groups campaigning against women's voting rights. The Massachusetts Association Opposed to the Further Extension of Suffrage to Women was one organization that came out of the 1880s to put down the voting efforts.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.crusadeforthevote.org/naows-opposition |title=Opposition to Suffrage |website=History of U.S. Woman's Suffrage |date=5 April 2016 |language=en-US |access-date=4 April 2019}}</ref>

Much anti-suffrage propaganda poked fun at the idea of women in politics. Political cartoons displayed the most sentiment by portraying the issue of women's suffrage to be swapped with men's lives. Some mocked the popular suffrage hairstyle of full-upward combed hair. Others depicted young girls turning into suffragettes after a failure in life, such as not being married.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://mentalfloss.com/article/52207/12-cruel-anti-suffragette-cartoons |title=12 Cruel Anti-Suffragette Cartoons |date=21 June 2015 |website=mentalfloss.com |language=en |access-date=4 April 2019}}</ref>

===Equal suffrage===
{{See also|Weighted voting}}
Equal suffrage is sometimes confused with ''Universal suffrage'', although the meaning of the former is the removal of graded votes, wherein a voter could possess a number of votes in accordance with income, wealth or social status.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.websters-online-dictionary.org/definitions/suffrage?cx=partner-pub-0939450753529744%3Av0qd01-tdlq&cof=FORID%3A9&ie=UTF-8&q=suffrage&sa=Search#906 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110628223408/http://www.websters-online-dictionary.org/definitions/suffrage?cx=partner-pub-0939450753529744:v0qd01-tdlq&cof=FORID:9&ie=UTF-8&q=suffrage&sa=Search#906 |url-status=dead |archive-date=28 June 2011 |title=Definition: suffrage |publisher=Websters Dictionary |access-date=24 October 2011}}</ref>

===Passive suffrage===
{{Excerpt|Nomination rules|paragraphs=1|only=paragraphs}}

===Census suffrage===
Also known as "censitary suffrage", it is the opposite of ''equal suffrage,'' meaning that the votes cast by those eligible to vote are not equal, but weighed differently according to the person's income or rank in society (e.g., people who do not own property or whose income is lower than a given amount are barred from voting; or people with higher education have more votes than those with lower education; stockholders who have more shares in a given company have more votes than those with fewer shares).  In many countries, census suffrage restricted who could vote and be elected: in the United States, until the [[Jacksonian democracy|Jacksonian reforms]] of the 1830s, only men who owned land of a specified acreage or monetary value could vote or participate in elections.<ref>{{Citation |first=Alexander |last=Keyssar |title=The Right to Vote: The Contested History of Democracy in the United States |edition=2nd |year=2009 |page=5 |url=https://www.nypl.org/sites/default/files/keyssar_-_part_1.pdf}}.</ref> Similarly, in Brazil, the Constitution of 1824 established that, in order to vote, citizens would need to have an annual income of 200,000 milréis and, to be voted, their minimum annual income would need to be 400,000 milréis.<ref>{{Citation |title=Constitution of the Empire of Brazil |url=https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Constitution_of_the_Empire_of_Brazil}}</ref>

===Compulsory suffrage===
{{Main|Compulsory suffrage}}
Where [[compulsory suffrage]] exists, those who are eligible to vote are required by law to do so. Thirty-two countries currently practise this form of suffrage.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/2123.html |title=CIA:The World Factbook |access-date=22 May 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080109020202/https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/2123.html |archive-date=9 January 2008 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

===Business vote===
{{anchor|Business vote}}<!-- [[Business vote]] redirects here -->
{{see also|Plural voting|Functional constituency (Hong Kong)|Indirectly elected member}}
In [[local government in England]] and some of its ex-colonies, businesses formerly had, and in some places still have, a vote in the urban area in which they paid [[rates (tax)|rates]]. This is an extension of the historical property-based franchise from [[natural person]]s to other [[legal person]]s.

In the United Kingdom, the [[Corporation of the City of London]] has retained and even expanded business vote, following the passing of the [[City of London (Ward Elections) Act 2002]]. This has given business interests within the [[City of London]], which is a major [[financial centre]] with few residents, the opportunity to apply the accumulated wealth of the corporation to the development of an effective [[lobbying|lobby]] for UK policies.<ref name="Johal 2012">{{cite journal |last1=Johal |first1=Sukhdev |first2=Michael |last2=Moran |first3=Karel |last3=Williams |year=2012 |title=The future has been postponed: The Great Financial Crisis and British politics |journal=British Politics |volume=7 |issue=1 |pages=69–81 |issn=1746-918X |doi=10.1057/bp.2011.30 |s2cid=153648412}}</ref><ref name="Leaver 2017">{{cite web |last1=Leaver |first1=Adam |title=Banking's groundhog day |url=https://www.redpepper.org.uk/bankings-groundhog-day/ |website=redpepper.org.uk |publisher=Red Pepper |access-date=21 December 2017}}</ref> This includes having the [[City Remembrancer]], financed by the [[City's Cash]], as a [[parliamentary agent]], provided with a special seat in the [[House of Commons of the United Kingdom|House of Commons]] located in the under-gallery facing the [[Speaker of the House of Commons (United Kingdom)|Speaker]]'s chair.<ref name="Hansard 2014">{{cite web |url=https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201314/cmhansrd/cm140303/text/140303w0001.htm#140303w0001.htm_sbhd0 |title=Written Answers to Questions – City of London Remembrancer |work=Hansard |publisher=UK Parliament |date=3 March 2014 |id=3 March 2014 : Column 593W |access-date=28 October 2014}}</ref> In a leaked document from 2012, an official report concerning the City's Cash revealed that the aim of major occasions such as set-piece sumptuous banquets featuring national politicians was "to increase the emphasis on complementing hospitality with business meetings consistent with the City corporation's role in supporting the City as a financial centre".<ref name="Mathiason 2012">{{cite news |last1=Mathiason |first1=Nick |last2=Newman |first2=Melanie |title=City of London Corporation: a lesson in lobbying |url=https://www.theguardian.com/business/2012/jul/09/city-london-corporation-lesson-lobbying |work=The Guardian |date=9 July 2012}}</ref>

The first issue taken up by the [[Northern Ireland civil rights movement]] was the business vote, abolished in 1968 (a year before it was abolished in Great Britain outside the City of London).<ref name="Arthur 2014">{{cite book |editor-last1=Aughey |editor-first1=Arthur |editor-last2=Morrow |editor-first2=Duncan |last=Arthur |first=Paul |title=Northern Ireland Politics |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=s27XAwAAQBAJ&pg=PT24 |access-date=27 November 2015 |date=17 June 2014 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=9781317890836 |page=24 |chapter=Northern Ireland 1968–72}}</ref>

In the [[Republic of Ireland]], commercial ratepayers{{#tag:ref|Strictly speaking, all ratepayers; however, domestic rates were abolished after the [[1977 Irish general election|1977 election]].<ref name="Callanan 2003">{{cite book |last1=Callanan |first1=Mark |last2=Keogan |first2=Justin F. |title=Local Government in Ireland: Inside Out |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=P6OdT7MIflgC&pg=PA332 |access-date=8 January 2018 |year=2003 |publisher=Institute of Public Administration |isbn=9781902448930 |page=332}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/1978/act/35/enacted/en/index.html |title=Local Government (Financial Provisions) Act, 1978 |work=[[Irish Statute Book]] |access-date=8 January 2018}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=https://beta.oireachtas.ie/en/bills/bill/1977/36/?tab=debates |title=Local Government (Financial Provisions) Act, 1978 – Debates |work=Bills index |date=14 December 1977 |publisher=Oireachtas |access-date=8 January 2018}};</ref>|group="nb"}} can vote in local [[plebiscite]]s, for changing the [[Place names in Ireland|name of the locality or street]],<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/1956/si/31/made/en/print |title=S.I. No. 31/1956 – Local Government (Changing of Place Names) Regulations, 1956. |work=[[Irish Statute Book]] |access-date=8 January 2018}}</ref>{{#tag:ref|For example [[South Dublin County Council]] produced lists of addresses of residences<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.sdcc.ie/plebiscite-palmerston-addresses |title=Plebiscite Palmerston Addresses |year=2014 |publisher=South Dublin County Council |access-date=8 January 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180109063801/http://www.sdcc.ie/plebiscite-palmerston-addresses |archive-date=9 January 2018 |url-status=dead}}</ref> and ratepayers<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.sdcc.ie/plebiscite-palmerston-rated-occupiers |title=Plebiscite Palmerston Rated Occupiers |year=2014 |publisher=South Dublin County Council |access-date=8 January 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180109063640/http://www.sdcc.ie/plebiscite-palmerston-rated-occupiers |archive-date=9 January 2018 |url-status=dead}}</ref> within [[Palmerstown]] for the 2014 plebiscite on changing the district's spelling.|group="nb"}} or delimiting a [[business improvement district]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/2007/si/166/made/en/print |title=S.I. No. 166/2007 – Local Government (Business Improvement Districts Ratepayer Plebiscite) Regulations 2007 |work=[[Irish Statute Book]] |access-date=8 January 2018}}; {{cite web |url=https://www.dublincity.ie/councilmeetings/documents/s12708/04a%20Appendix%20A.pdf#page=11 |title=Q.50 – Councillor Mannix Flynn |work=Questions Lodged Pursuant to Standing Order No.16 for Reply at the Monthly Meeting of Dublin City Council to be Held on Monday, 4th September 2017 |pages=11–13 |access-date=8 January 2018 |archive-date=11 December 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171211214143/https://www.dublincity.ie/councilmeetings/documents/s12708/04a%20Appendix%20A.pdf#page=11 |url-status=dead}}</ref> From 1930 to 1935, 5 of 35 members of [[Dublin City Council]] were "commercial members".<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/1930/act/27/enacted/en/print#sec31 |title=Local Government (Dublin) Act, 1930 §§31(1), 32(2)–(3), 34, 35 |work=[[Irish Statute Book]] |access-date=2 February 2017}}; {{cite web |url=http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/1935/act/10/section/2/enacted/en/html#sec2 |title=Local Government (Dublin) Act, 1935, Section 2 |work=[[Irish Statute Book]] |access-date=2 February 2017}}</ref>

In cities in most Australian states, voting is optional for businesses but compulsory for individuals.<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.smh.com.au/nsw/city-of-sydney-business-vote-plan-may-falter-backers-concede-20140815-104hs1.html |title=City of Sydney business vote plan may falter, backers concede |last1=Hasham |first1=Nicole |first2=Leesha |last2=McKenny |date=16 August 2014 |work=[[The Sydney Morning Herald]] |access-date=27 November 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.slate.com/articles/business/moneybox/2014/08/australia_businesses_get_to_vote_sydney_conservatives_want_it_to_be_required.html |title=Australia businesses get to vote: Sydney conservatives want it to be required by law. |last=Weissmann |first=Jordan |date=August 2014 |work=[[Slate (magazine)|Slate]] |access-date=27 November 2015}}</ref>

Some [[List of municipalities in Delaware|municipalities in Delaware]] allow corporations to vote on local matters.<ref name="Ivanova 2023">{{cite news |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/seaford-delaware-corporate-voting-llc-trust-elections/ |title=A Delaware city is set to give corporations the right to vote in elections |last=Ivanova |first=Irina |date=21 June 2023 |work=Moneywatch |publisher=CBS News}}</ref>

==Basis of exclusion{{anchor|Forms_of_exclusion_from_suffrage}}==<!-- Most of this section is linked from [[Ann Jebb]] -->
{{See also | Disenfranchisement}}

===Gender===
{{Main|Women's suffrage}}
[[File:1912_Ohio_women_Headquarters.jpg|thumb| Women's Suffrage Headquarters on Euclid Avenue in [[Cleveland]], [[Ohio]], in 1912]]
In ancient [[Athenian democracy|Athens]], often cited as the birthplace of democracy, only adult, male citizens who owned land were permitted to vote. Through subsequent centuries, Europe was generally ruled by monarchs, though various forms of parliament arose at different times. The high rank ascribed to [[abbess]]es within the [[Catholic Church]] permitted some women the right to sit and vote at national assemblies – as with various high-ranking abbesses in Medieval Germany, who were ranked among the independent princes of the empire. Their Protestant successors enjoyed the same privilege almost into modern times.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |url=http://oce.catholic.com/index.php?title=Abbess |title=Abbess |encyclopedia=Original Catholic Encyclopedia |date=21 July 2010 |access-date=26 December 2012 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120114130058/http://oce.catholic.com/index.php?title=Abbess |archive-date=14 January 2012}}</ref>

Marie Guyart, a French nun who worked with the [[First Nations in Canada|First Nations]] peoples of Canada during the seventeenth century, wrote in 1654 regarding the suffrage practices of [[Iroquois]] women, "These female chieftains are women of standing amongst the savages, and they have a deciding vote in the councils. They make decisions there like the men, and it is they who even delegated the first ambassadors to discuss peace."<ref>''Women Mystics Confront the Modern World'' (Marie-Florine Bruneau: State University of New York: 1998: p. 106)</ref> The Iroquois, like many First Nations peoples in North America, had a [[matrilineal]] [[kinship system]]. Property and descent were passed through the female line. Women elders voted on hereditary male chiefs and could depose them.

The emergence of many modern democracies began with male citizens obtaining the right to vote in advance of female citizens, except in the [[Kingdom of Hawai'i]], where universal suffrage without mention of age or sex was introduced in 1840; however, a constitutional amendment in 1852 rescinded female voting and put property qualifications on male voting.

Voting rights for women were introduced into [[international law]] by the United Nations' Human Rights Commission, whose elected chair was [[Eleanor Roosevelt]]. In 1948 the [[United Nations]] adopted the [[Universal Declaration of Human Rights]]; Article&nbsp;21 states: "(1) Everyone has the right to take part in the government of his country, directly or through freely chosen representatives. (3) The will of the people shall be the basis of the authority of government; this will shall be expressed in periodic and genuine elections which shall be by universal and equal suffrage and shall be held by secret vote or by equivalent free voting procedures."

The [[United Nations General Assembly]] adopted the [[Convention on the Political Rights of Women]], which went into force in&nbsp;1954, enshrining the equal rights of women to vote, hold office, and access public services as set out by national laws. One of the most recent jurisdictions to acknowledge women's full right to vote was [[Bhutan]] in [[2008 Bhutanese general election|2008]] (its first national elections).<ref>{{cite journal |first=Mian |last=Ridge |url=https://www.csmonitor.com/World/Asia-South-Central/2008/0325/p04s01-wosc.html |title=Bhutan makes it official: it's a democracy. |journal=The Christian Science Monitor |date=25 March 2008 |access-date=2 September 2011}}</ref> Most recently, in 2011 [[Abdullah of Saudi Arabia|King Abdullah]] of Saudi Arabia let women vote in the [[2015 Saudi Arabian municipal elections|2015 local elections]] (and from then on) and be appointed to the [[Consultative Assembly of Saudi Arabia|Consultative Assembly]].

===Religion===
In the aftermath of the [[Protestant Reformation|Reformation]] it was common in European countries for people of disfavored [[religious denominations]] to be denied civil and political rights, often including the right to vote, to stand for election or to sit in parliament. In [[Kingdom of Great Britain|Great Britain]] and [[Kingdom of Ireland|Ireland]], Roman Catholics were denied the right to vote from 1728 to 1793, and the right to sit in parliament until 1829. The anti-Catholic policy was justified on the grounds that the loyalty of Catholics supposedly lay with the [[Pope]] rather than the national monarch.

In England and Ireland, several Acts practically disenfranchised non-Anglicans or non-Protestants by imposing an oath before admission to vote or to stand for office. The 1672 and 1678 [[Test Act]]s forbade non-Anglicans to hold public offices, and the 1727 [[Disenfranchising Act]] took away Catholics' voting rights in Ireland, which were restored only in 1788. Jews could not even be naturalized. An attempt was made to change this situation, but the [[Jewish Naturalization Act 1753]] provoked such reactions that it was repealed the following year. [[Nonconformist (Protestantism)|Nonconformists]] ([[Methodists]] and [[Presbyterians]]) were only allowed to run for election to the [[British House of Commons]] starting in 1828, Catholics in 1829 (following the [[Roman Catholic Relief Act 1829]], which extended the [[Roman Catholic Relief Act 1791]]), and Jews in 1858 (with the [[Emancipation of the Jews in England]]). [[Benjamin Disraeli]] could only begin his political career in 1837 because he had been converted to Anglicanism at the age of 12.

In several states in the U.S. after the [[United States Declaration of Independence|Declaration of Independence]], Jews, [[Quakers]] or Catholics were denied voting rights and/or forbidden to run for office.<ref name="Williamson 1960">{{Citation |title=American Suffrage. From property to democracy |first=Chilton |last=Williamson |author-link=Chilton Williamson |publisher=Princeton University Press |year=1960}}</ref> The [[Delaware Constitution of 1776]] stated that:<ref>{{Citation |url=http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/states/de02.htm |title=Constitution of Delaware, 1776 |access-date=7 December 2007 |publisher=The Avalon Project at [[Yale Law School]] |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071130011903/http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/states/de02.htm |archive-date=30 November 2007 |df=dmy-all}}</ref><blockquote>Every person who shall be chosen a member of either house, or appointed to any office or place of trust, before taking his seat, or entering upon the execution of his office, shall (...) also make and subscribe the following declaration, to wit: ''I, A B. do profess faith in God the Father, and in Jesus Christ His only Son, and in the Holy Ghost, one God, blessed for evermore; and I do acknowledge the holy scriptures of the Old and New Testament to be given by divine inspiration.''</blockquote>This was repealed by article I, section&nbsp;2 of the [[Delaware Constitution of 1792|1792 Constitution]]: "No religious test shall be required as a qualification to any office, or public trust, under this State".<ref>{{Citation |url=http://members.tripod.com/candst/cnst_de.htm |title=State Constitution (Religious Sections) – Delaware |access-date=7 December 2007 |publisher=The Constitutional Principle: Separation of Church and State}}</ref> The 1778 [[South Carolina Constitution|Constitution of the State of South Carolina]] stated that "No person shall be eligible to sit in the house of representatives unless he be of the Protestant religion",<ref>{{Citation |url=http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/states/sc02.htm |title=An Act for establishing the constitution of the State of South Carolina, 19 March 1778 |access-date=5 December 2007 |publisher=The Avalon Project at [[Yale Law School]] |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071213082151/http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/states/sc02.htm |archive-date=13 December 2007 |df=dmy-all}}</ref> the 1777 [[Georgia (U.S. state) Constitution|Constitution of the State of Georgia]] (art. VI) that "The representatives shall be chosen out of the residents in each county (...) and they shall be of the Protestent ''(sic)'' religion".<ref>{{Citation |url=http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/states/ga02.htm |title=Constitution of Georgia |date=5 February 1777 |access-date=7 December 2007 |publisher=The Avalon Project at [[Yale Law School]] |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071213082118/http://www.yale.edu/lawweb/avalon/states/ga02.htm |archive-date=13 December 2007 |df=dmy-all}}</ref> In [[Maryland]], voting rights and eligibility were extended to Jews in 1828.<ref>{{Citation |url=http://www.msa.md.gov/megafile/msa/speccol/sc4800/sc4872/003183/html/m3183-1670.html |title=An Act for the relief of Jews in Maryland, passed 26 February 1825 |date=26 February 1825 |publisher=Archives of Maryland |volume=3183 |page=1670 |access-date=5 December 2007}}</ref>

In [[Canada]], several religious groups ([[Mennonites]], [[Hutterites]], [[Doukhobors]]) were disenfranchised by the wartime Elections Act of 1917, mainly because they opposed military service. This disenfranchisement ended with the closure of the First World War, but was renewed for Doukhobors from 1934 (via the ''Dominion Elections Act'') to 1955.<ref>{{Citation |url=http://www.elections.ca/content.asp?section=gen&document=chap3&dir=his&lang=e&textonly=false |title=A History of the Vote in Canada, Chapter 3 Modernization, 1920–1981 |publisher=Elections Canada |access-date=6 December 2007}}</ref>

The first Constitution of modern [[Romania]] in 1866 provided in article 7 that only Christians could become Romanian citizens. [[History of the Jews in Romania|Jews native to Romania]] were declared stateless persons. In 1879, under pressure from the [[Treaty of Berlin (1878)|Berlin Peace Conference]], this article was amended, granting non-Christians the right to become Romanian citizens, but naturalization was granted on a case-by-case basis and was subject to Parliamentary approval. An application took over ten years to process. Only in 1923 was a new constitution adopted, whose article 133 extended Romanian citizenship to all Jewish residents and equality of rights to all Romanian citizens.<ref>{{Citation |url=http://www.romanianjewish.org/en/mosteniri_ale_culturii_iudaice_03_13.html |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120914002239/http://www.romanianjewish.org/en/mosteniri_ale_culturii_iudaice_03_13.html |url-status=usurped |archive-date=14 September 2012 |title=Chronology – From the History Museum of the Romanian Jews; Hasefer Publishing House |publisher=The Romanian Jewish Community |access-date=6 December 2007}}</ref>

===Wealth, tax class, social class===
[[File:Manifestace za hlasovací právo 1905.jpg|thumb|Demonstration for universal right to vote, Prague, [[Austria-Hungary]], 1905]]
Until the nineteenth century, many Western proto-democracies had [[property qualification]]s in their electoral laws; e.g. only landowners could vote (because the only tax for such countries was the property tax), or the voting rights were weighted according to the amount of taxes paid (as in the [[Prussian three-class franchise]]). Most countries abolished the property qualification for national elections in the late nineteenth century, but retained it for local government elections for several decades. Today these laws have largely been abolished, although the [[Homelessness|homeless]] may not be able to register because they lack regular addresses.

In the [[United Kingdom]], until the [[House of Lords Act 1999]], [[peerage|peers]] who were members of the [[House of Lords]] were excluded from voting for the [[British House of Commons|House of Commons]] as they were not commoners. Although there is nothing to prevent the monarch from voting, it is considered improper for the monarch to do so.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.parliament.uk/about/faqs/house-of-commons-faqs/elections-faq-page/#jump-link-1 |title=UK Parliamentary Website Election FAQs |access-date=16 August 2018 |archive-date=16 August 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180816162124/https://www.parliament.uk/about/faqs/house-of-commons-faqs/elections-faq-page/#jump-link-1 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

Throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, many nations made voters pay to elect officials, keeping impoverished people from being fully enfranchised. These laws were in effect in Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Mexico, Peru, Uruguay, and Venezuela.<ref name="de Ferranti 2004">{{Cite book |url=http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/804741468045832887/pdf/28989.pdf |title=Inequality in Latin America: Breaking with History? |last=de Ferranti |first=David |publisher=The World Bank |year=2004 |location=Washington DC, USA |pages=109–122}}</ref>

===Knowledge===
Sometimes the right to vote has been limited to people who had achieved a certain level of education or passed a certain test. In some US states, "[[literacy test]]s" were previously implemented to exclude those who were illiterate.<ref name="Transcript of Voting Rights Act 1965">[http://www.ourdocuments.gov/doc.php?flash=true&doc=100&page=transcript Transcript of Voting Rights Act (1965)] U.S. National Archives.</ref> Black voters in the South were often deemed by election officials to have failed the test even when they did not.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.crmvet.org/info/lithome.htm |title=Civil Rights Movement – Literacy Tests & Voter Applications |website=crmvet.org |access-date=10 December 2018}}</ref> Under the 1961 constitution of [[Rhodesia]], voting on the "A" roll, which elected up to 50 of the 65 members of parliament, was restricted based on education requirements, which in practice led to an overwhelming white vote. Voting on the "B" roll had universal suffrage, but only appointed 15 members of parliament.<ref>Wood, J. R. T. (June 2005). So far and no further! Rhodesia's bid for independence during the retreat from empire 1959–1965. Victoria, British Columbia: Trafford Publishing. p. 92. {{ISBN|978-1-4120-4952-8}}.</ref>{{clarify |date=December 2018 |reason= Clarification needed:  What is "A roll" and "B roll"?}}

In the 20th century, many countries other than the US placed voting restrictions on illiterate people, including: [[Bolivia]], [[Brazil]], [[Canada]], [[Chile]], [[Ecuador]], and [[Peru]].<ref name="de Ferranti 2004" />

===Race===
Various countries, usually countries with a dominant race within a wider population, have historically denied the vote to people of particular races, or to all but the dominant race. This has been achieved in a number of ways:
* Official – laws and regulations passed specifically disenfranchising people of particular races (for example, the [[Antebellum United States]], [[Boer republic]]s, pre-apartheid and [[apartheid]] South Africa, or many colonial political systems, who provided suffrage only for white settlers and some privileged non-white groups). Canada and Australia denied suffrage for their indigenous populations until the 1960s.
* Indirect – nothing in law specifically prevents anyone from voting on account of their race, but other laws or regulations are used to exclude people of a particular race. In southern states of the United States of America before the passage of the [[Civil Rights Act of 1964]] and the [[Voting Rights Act of 1965]], [[Poll tax (United States)|poll taxes]], [[literacy test|literacy]] and other tests were used to disenfranchise African-Americans.<ref name="Transcript of Voting Rights Act 1965"/><ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20090214180002/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,897070,00.html The Constitution: The 24th Amendment] ''Time''. Retrieved 24 October 2011.</ref> Property qualifications have tended to disenfranchise a minority race, particularly if tribally owned land is not allowed to be taken into consideration. In some cases this was an unintended (but usually welcome) consequence.{{citation needed|date=December 2014}} Many African colonies after World War II until decolonization had tough education and property qualifications which practically gave meaningful representation only for rich European minorities.
* Unofficial – nothing in law prevents anyone from voting on account of their race, but people of particular races are intimidated or otherwise prevented from exercising this right. This was a common tactic employed by white Southerners against [[Freedmen]] during the [[Reconstruction Era]] and the following period before more formal methods of disenfranchisement became entrenched. Unofficial discrimination could even manifest in ways which, while allowing the act of voting itself, effectively deprive it of any value – for example, in [[Israel]], the country's [[Arab citizens of Israel|Arab minority]] has maintained a party-system separate from that of the Jewish majority. In the run-up for the country's [[2015 Israeli legislative election|2015 elections]], the electoral threshold was raised from 2% to 3.25%, thus forcing the dominant Arab parties – [[Hadash]], the [[United Arab List]], [[Balad (political party)|Balad]] and [[Ta'al]] – either to run under [[Joint List|one list]] or risk losing their parliamentary representation.

===Age===
{{Youth rights sidebar}}
{{Main|Voting age|Age of candidacy}}
All modern democracies require voters to meet age qualifications to vote.{{citation needed|date=October 2022}} Worldwide voting ages are not consistent, differing between countries and even within countries, though the range usually varies between 16 and 21 years. The United Kingdom was the first major democratic nation to [[Representation of the People Act 1969|extend suffrage to those 18 and older in 1969]].<ref name="Bingham 2019">{{Cite web |last=Bingham |first=Adrian |date=25 June 2019 |title='The last milestone' on the journey to full adult suffrage? 50 years of debates about the voting age |url=https://www.historyandpolicy.org/index.php/policy-papers/papers/the-last-milestone-on-the-journey-to-full-adult-suffrage |access-date=31 December 2022 |website=History & Policy}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last1=Loughran |first1=Thomas |last2=Mycock |first2=Andrew |last3=Tonge |first3=Jonathan |date=3 November 2021 |title=Lowering the voting age: three lessons from the 1969 Representation of the People's Act |url=https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/politicsandpolicy/lessons-from-the-1969-representation-of-the-peoples-act/ |access-date=31 December 2022 |website=British Politics and Policy at LSE}}</ref> The movement to lower the voting age is one aspect of the [[Youth rights]] movement. [[Demeny voting]] has been proposed as a form of proxy voting by parents on behalf of their children who are below the age of suffrage.

[[Nomination rules]] generally include [[age of candidacy]] rules.

===Criminality===
{{main|Disfranchisement#Based on criminal conviction}}

Some countries restrict the voting rights of convicted criminals. Some countries, and [[Felony disenfranchisement in the United States|some U.S. states]], also deny the right to vote to those convicted of serious crimes even after they are released from prison. In some cases (e.g. in [[Felony disenfranchisement in the United States|many U.S. states]]) the denial of the right to vote is automatic upon a felony conviction; in other cases (e.g. France and Germany) deprivation of the vote is meted out separately, and often limited to perpetrators of specific crimes such as those against the electoral system or corruption of public officials. In the [[Republic of Ireland]], prisoners are allowed the right to vote, following [[Hirst v United Kingdom (No 2)|the ''Hirst v UK (No2)'' ruling]], which was granted in 2006. [[Canada]] allowed only prisoners serving a term of less than 2 years the right to vote, but this was found to be unconstitutional in 2002 by the [[Supreme Court of Canada]] in ''[[Sauvé v. Canada (Chief Electoral Officer)]]'', and all prisoners have been allowed to vote as of the [[2004 Canadian federal election]].

===Residency===
Under certain electoral systems elections are held within subnational jurisdictions, thus preventing persons from voting who would otherwise be eligible on the basis that they do not reside within such a jurisdiction, or because they live in an area that cannot participate. In the United States, license plates in Washington, D.C. read "TAXATION WITHOUT REPRESENTATION," in reference to the district not holding a seat in either the [[United States House of Representatives|House of Representatives]] or [[United States Senate|Senate]], however residents can vote in presidential elections based on the Twenty-third Amendment to the United States Constitution adopted in 1961. Residents of [[Puerto Rico]] enjoy neither.

Sometimes citizens become ineligible to vote because they are [[Right of expatriates to vote in their country of origin|no longer resident in their country of citizenship]]. For example, Australian citizens who have been outside Australia for more than one and fewer than six years may excuse themselves from the requirement to vote in [[Australian electoral system|Australian elections]] while they remain outside Australia (voting in Australia is compulsory for resident citizens).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.aec.gov.au/FAQs/Voting_Overseas.htm |title=Australian Electoral Commission, "Voting Overseas – Frequently Asked Questions", 20 November 2007 |publisher=Aec.gov.au |date=10 January 2011 |access-date=21 June 2013}}</ref>
Danish citizens that reside permanently outside Denmark lose their right to vote.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.retsinformation.dk/forms/R0710.aspx?id=162511#Kap1 |title=Lov om valg til Folketinget – Valgret og valgbarhed", 10 April 2014 |access-date=24 October 2015}}</ref>

In some cases, a certain period of residence in a locality may required for the right to vote in that location. For example, in the United Kingdom up to 2001, each 15 February a new electoral register came into effect, based on registration as of the previous 10 October, with the effect of limiting voting to those resident five to seventeen months earlier depending on the timing of the election.

===Nationality===
{{Main|Right of foreigners to vote }}
In most countries, suffrage is limited to citizens and, in many cases, permanent residents of that country. However, some members of supra-national organisations such as the [[Commonwealth of Nations]] and the European Union have granted voting rights to citizens of all countries within that organisation. Until the mid-twentieth century, many Commonwealth countries gave the vote to all British citizens within the country, regardless of whether they were normally resident there. In most cases this was because there was no distinction between [[British subject|British and local citizenship]]. Several countries qualified this with restrictions preventing non-white British citizens such as Indians and British Africans from voting. Under European Union law, citizens of European Union countries can vote in each other's local and European Parliament elections on the same basis as citizens of the country in question, but usually not in national elections.

===Naturalization===
In some countries, naturalized citizens do not have the right to vote or to be a candidate, either permanently or for a determined period.

Article 5 of the 1831 [[Constitution of Belgium|Belgian Constitution]] made a difference between ordinary naturalization, and ''grande naturalisation''. Only (former) foreigners who had been granted ''grande naturalisation'' were entitled to vote, be a candidate for parliamentary elections, or be appointed minister. However, ordinary naturalized citizens could vote for municipal elections.<ref>Delcour, M.C., Traité théorique et pratique du droit électoral appliqué aux élections communales, Louvain, Ickx & Geets, 1842, p.&nbsp;16</ref> Ordinary naturalized citizens and citizens who had acquired Belgian nationality through marriage could vote, but not run as candidates for parliamentary elections in 1976. The concepts of ordinary and grande naturalization were suppressed from the Constitution in 1991.<ref>{{Citation |url=http://suffrage-universel.be/be/00.htm |title=La participation politique des allochtones en Belgique – Historique et situation bruxelloise |first=Pierre-Yves |last=Lambert |publisher=Academia-Bruylant (coll. Sybidi Papers), Louvain-la-Neuve |year=1999 |access-date=6 December 2007}}</ref>

In [[France]], the 1889 Nationality Law barred those who had acquired the French nationality by naturalization or marriage from voting, and from eligibility and access to several public jobs. In 1938 the delay was reduced to five years.<ref>[https://wayback.archive-it.org/all/20080216092020/http://www.patrick-weil.com/Fichiers%20du%20site/2003%20-%20D%E9bat%20sur%20la%20nationalit%E9%20fran%E7aise%20(Dico%20Sirinelli).pdf "Patrick Weil, Nationalité française (débat sur la)"], dans Jean-François Sirinelli (dir.), Dictionnaire historique de la vie politique française au XXe siècle, Paris, PUF, 1995, pp.&nbsp;719–721</ref> These instances of discrimination, as well as others against naturalized citizens, were gradually abolished in 1973 (9 January 1973 law) and 1983.

In [[Morocco]], a former French [[protectorate]], and in Guinea, a former French colony, naturalized citizens are prohibited from voting for five years following their naturalization.<ref>[http://www.rdh50.ma/fr/pdf/contributions/GT10-9.pdf Nadia Bernoussi, L'évolution du processus électoral au Maroc, 22 December 2005] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121125082353/http://www.rdh50.ma/fr/pdf/contributions/GT10-9.pdf |date=25 November 2012 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ife.org.mx/documentos/AI/semghin.htm |title=art. 3, al. 3, Loi Organique portant code électoral guinéen |publisher=Ife.org.mx |access-date=21 June 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130602040907/http://www.ife.org.mx/documentos/AI/semghin.htm |archive-date=2 June 2013}}</ref>

In the [[Federated States of Micronesia]], one must be a Micronesian citizen for at least 15 years to run for parliament.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ipu.org/parline-e/reports/2213_B.htm |title=Federated States of Micronesia |publisher=Inter-Parliamentary Union |access-date=12 December 2007}}</ref>

In [[Nicaragua]], [[Peru]] and the [[Philippines]], only citizens by birth are eligible for being elected to the national legislature; naturalized citizens enjoy only voting rights.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ipu.org/parline-e/reports/2235_B.htm |title=Nicaragua |publisher=Inter-Parliamentary Union |access-date=12 December 2007}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ipu.org/parline-e/reports/2251_B.htm |title=Peru |publisher=Inter-Parliamentary Union |access-date=12 December 2007}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ipu.org/parline-e/reports/2253_B.htm |title=Philippines |publisher=Inter-Parliamentary Union |access-date=12 December 2007}}</ref>

In [[Uruguay]], naturalized citizens have the right of eligibility to the parliament after five years.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ipu.org/parline-e/reports/2341_B.htm |title=Uruguay |publisher=Inter-Parliamentary Union |access-date=12 December 2007}}</ref>

In the United States, the President and [[Vice President of the United States|Vice President]] must be natural-born citizens. All other governmental offices may be held by any citizen, although citizens may only run for Congress after an extended period of citizenship (seven years for the House of Representatives and nine for the Senate).

===Function===
In France, an 1872 law, rescinded by a 1945 decree, prohibited all army personnel from voting.<ref>{{Citation |url=http://www.assemblee-nationale.fr/histoire/suffrage_universel/suffrage-extension.asp#militaires |title=Plénitude de la République et extension du suffrage universel |publisher=Assemblée nationale ([[National Assembly of France]]) |language=fr |access-date=5 December 2007 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071219153108/http://www.assemblee-nationale.fr/histoire/suffrage_universel/suffrage-extension.asp |archive-date=19 December 2007}}</ref>

In Ireland, police (the [[Garda Síochána]] and, before 1925, the [[Dublin Metropolitan Police]]) were barred from voting in national elections, though not [[Local government in the Republic of Ireland|local elections]], from 1923 to 1960.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/1923/act/12/section/5/enacted/en/html#sec5 |title=Electoral Act, 1923, Section 5 |work=[[Irish Statute Book]] |access-date=4 December 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/1960/act/43/enacted/en/print |title=Electoral Act, 1960 |work=[[Irish Statute Book]] |pages=sec.3 and Schedule |access-date=4 December 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://oireachtasdebates.oireachtas.ie/debates%20authoring/debateswebpack.nsf/takes/dail1955110200026 |title=Private Members' Business. – Garda Síochána Franchise—Motion. |date=2 November 1955 |work=Dáil Éireann debates |publisher=Oireachtas |access-date=8 December 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://oireachtasdebates.oireachtas.ie/debates%20authoring/debateswebpack.nsf/takes/dail1960120600038 |title=Electoral Bill, 1960 – Second Stages |last=Blaney |first=Neil |date=6 December 1960 |work=Dáil Éireann debates |publisher=Oireachtas |quote=One of the important proposals is contained in Section 3 and in the Schedule which provides for the repeal of the prohibition on the registration of Gardaí as voters at Dáil elections. In future, if this provision is enacted, Gardaí can vote at Dáil and Presidential elections and at referendums. |access-date=4 December 2015}}</ref>

The 1876 [[Constitution of Texas]] (article VI, section 1) stated that "The following classes of persons shall not be allowed to vote in this State, to wit: (...) Fifth—All soldiers, marines and seamen, employed in the service of the army or navy of the United States."<ref>{{Citation |url=http://tarlton.law.utexas.edu/constitutions/text/IART06.html |title=Constitution of the State of Texas (1876) |publisher=Tarlton Law Library, The [[University of Texas School of Law]] |access-date=8 December 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080129120120/http://tarlton.law.utexas.edu/constitutions/text/IART06.html |archive-date=29 January 2008 |url-status=dead |df=dmy-all}}</ref>

In many countries with a [[presidential system]] of government a person is forbidden to be a legislator and an official of the executive branch at the same time. Such provisions are found, for example, in Article I of the U.S. Constitution.

==History around the world==
{{See also|Universal suffrage#Dates by country|Timeline of women's suffrage|Timeline of women's suffrage in the United States|Voting age}}
[[File:Universal suffrage granted to women, OWID.svg|thumb|upright=1.6|Countries with universal suffrage granted to women, 2024<ref>{{cite web |title=Universal suffrage granted to women |url=https://ourworldindata.org/grapher/universal-suffrage-granted-to-women |website=Our World in Data |access-date=6 March 2020}}</ref>]]

===Australia===
{{See also|Suffrage in Australia|Voting rights of Australian Aboriginals}}
* 1855 – South Australia is the first colony to allow all male suffrage to British subjects (later extended to [[Aboriginal Australians]] over the age of 21.
* 1894 – South Australian women eligible to vote.<ref name="AEC 2011">{{cite web |url=http://www.aec.gov.au/Elections/Australian_Electoral_History/wright.htm |title=Women and the Right to Vote in Australia |publisher=Australian Electoral Commission |date=28 January 2011 |access-date=21 June 2013}}</ref>
* 1896 – Tasmania becomes last colony to allow all male suffrage.
* 1899 – Western Australian women eligible to vote.<ref name="AEC 2011" />
* 1902 – The [[Commonwealth Franchise Act 1902|Commonwealth Franchise Act]] enables women to vote federally and in the state of New South Wales. This legislation also allows women to run for government, making Australia the first democratic state in the world to allow this.
* 1921 – [[Edith Cowan]] is elected to the West Australian Legislative Assembly as member for West Perth, the first woman elected to any Australian Parliament.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.aec.gov.au/elections/australian_electoral_history/milestone.htm |title=Electoral Milestones for Women |publisher=Australian Electoral Commission |date=8 March 2013 |access-date=21 June 2013}}</ref>
* 1962 – [[Australian Aborigines]] guaranteed the right to vote in Commonwealth elections, however, in practice this right was dependent on Aboriginal voting rights having been granted by the individual's respective state.
* 1965 – Queensland is the last state to grant voting rights to Aboriginal Australians.
*1973 - After South Australian Premier [[Don Dunstan]] introduced the Age of Majority (Reduction) Bill in October 1970, the voting age in South Australia was lowered to 18 years old in 1973. Consequently, the voting age for all federal elections was lowered from 21 to 18. The states had lowered the voting age to 18 by 1973, the first being Western Australia in 1970.

===Canada===
{{See also|The Famous Five (Canada)}}
* 1871 – One of the first acts of the new Province of [[British Columbia]] strips the franchise from First Nations, and ensures Chinese and Japanese people are prevented from voting.
* 1916 – [[Manitoba]] becomes the first province in which women have the right to vote in provincial elections.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://manitobia.ca/content/en/themes/wwv |title=Women win the vote : Digital Resources on Manitoba History |website=manitobia.ca |access-date=16 March 2017 |archive-date=27 August 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110827101830/http://manitobia.ca/content/en/themes/wwv |url-status=usurped}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.elections.ca/content.aspx?section=res&dir=his&document=chap2&lang=e |title=A History of the Vote in Canada |last=Canada |first=Elections |language=en |access-date=16 March 2017}}</ref>
* 1917 – The federal ''[[Wartime Elections Act]]'' gives voting rights to women with relatives fighting overseas. Voting rights are stripped from all "[[enemy aliens]]" (those born in enemy countries who arrived in Canada after 1902; see also [[Ukrainian Canadian internment]]).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.abheritage.ca/famous5/timeline_text.html |title=The Famous Five – Timeline |publisher=Abheritage.ca |date=8 December 2010 |access-date=21 June 2013}}</ref> The federal ''[[Military Voters Act]]'' gives the vote to all soldiers, even non-citizens, (with the exception of Indian and Metis veterans)<ref>Indian Act of Canada S.C. 1938 chap 46 sec 14(2)(i)/Dominion Elections Act S.C.1948 chap 46</ref> and to women serving as nurses or clerks for the armed forces, but the votes are not for specific candidates but simply for or against the government.
* 1918 – Women gain full voting rights in federal elections.<ref name="Faculty.marianopolis.edu 1916"/>
* 1919 – Women gain the right to run for federal office.<ref name="Faculty.marianopolis.edu 1916">{{cite web |url=http://faculty.marianopolis.edu/c.belanger/QuebecHistory/encyclopedia/Canada-WomensVote-WomenSuffrage.htm |title=Canada – Women's Vote – Women Suffrage |publisher=Faculty.marianopolis.edu |date=27 January 1916 |access-date=21 June 2013}}</ref>
* 1940 – Quebec becomes the last province where women's right to vote is recognized. (see [[Canadian women during the world wars]] for more information on Canadian suffrage)
* 1947 – Racial exclusions against Chinese and Indo-Canadians lifted.
* 1948 – Racial exclusions against Japanese Canadians lifted.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://archives.cbc.ca/politics/elections/topics/1450/ |title=CBC Digital Archives |publisher=Canadian Broadcasting Corporation |access-date=21 June 2013}}</ref>
* 1955 – Religious exclusions are removed from election laws.<ref name="Canada 2017">{{Cite web |url=http://www.elections.ca/content.aspx?section=res&dir=his&document=chap3&lang=e |title=A History of the Vote in Canada |last=Canada |first=Elections |language=en |access-date=16 March 2017}}</ref>
* 1960 – Right to vote is extended unconditionally to [[First Nations in Canada|First Nations]] peoples. (Previously they could vote only by giving up their status as First Nations people.)<ref name="Noel Dyck 2016">{{cite encyclopedia |author=Noel Dyck; Tonio Sadik |url=https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/aboriginal-people-political-organization-and-activism |title=Aboriginal people, political organization and activism |encyclopedia=[[The Canadian Encyclopedia]] |date=15 April 2016 |access-date=21 August 2019}}</ref>
* 1960 – Right to vote in advance is extended to all electors willing to swear they would be absent on election day.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.elections.ca/content.aspx?section=vot&dir=bkg&document=ec90785&lang=e |title=The Evolution of the Federal Franchise |last=Canada |first=Elections |language=en |access-date=16 March 2017}}</ref>
* 1965 – [[First Nations in Canada|First Nations]] people granted the right to vote in [[Alberta]] provincial elections, starting with the [[1967 Alberta general election]].<ref name="Noel Dyck 2016"/>
* 1969 – [[First Nations in Canada|First Nations]] people granted the right to vote in [[Quebec]] provincial elections, starting with the [[1970 Quebec general election]].<ref name="Noel Dyck 2016"/>
* 1970 – Voting age lowered from 21 to 18.<ref>{{cite web |title=The Evolution of the Federal Franchise |url=http://www.elections.ca/content.aspx?section=vot&dir=bkg&document=ec90785&lang=e |website=Elections Canada |date=9 December 2020}}</ref>
* 1982 – The new ''[[Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms]]'' guarantees all adult citizens the right to vote.
* 1988 – Supreme Court of Canada rules mentally ill patients have the right to vote.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://archives.cbc.ca/politics/rights_freedoms/topics/1450-9559/ |title=CBC Digital Archives |publisher=Canadian Broadcasting Corporation |access-date=21 June 2013}}</ref>
* 1993 – Any elector can vote in advance.<ref name="Canada 2017"/>
* 2000 – Legislation is introduced making it easier for people of [[no fixed abode|no fixed address]] to vote.
* 2002 – Prisoners given the right to vote in the riding (voting district) where they were convicted. All adult Canadians except the Chief and Deputy [[Electoral Officer]]s can now vote in Canada.<ref>Sauvé v. Canada (Chief Electoral Officer)
</ref>
* 2019 – The [[Supreme Court of Canada]] rules that portions of the federal ''[[Canada Elections Act]]'' which prevent citizens who have been living abroad for more than five years from voting by mail are in violation of [[Section 3 of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms]] and thus unconstitutional.<ref>{{cite web |title=Frank v. Canada (Attorney General), 2019 SCC 1 |url=https://scc-csc.lexum.com/scc-csc/scc-csc/en/item/17446/index.do |website=Lexum |date=January 2001 |access-date=27 January 2019}}</ref>

===European Union===
The European Union has given the right to vote in municipal elections to the citizen of another EU country by the Council Directive 94/80/EG from 19 December 1994.<ref>{{cite web |title=Council Directive 94/80/EG |url=http://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/HTML/?uri=CELEX:31994L0080&from=EN&lang=e |website=EUR-Lex}}</ref>

===Finland===
* 1907 - Universal suffrage in all elections for all over 24 years old<ref>{{Cite book |last=Mylly |first=Juhani |url=https://www.worldcat.org/title/ocm77267222 |title=Edustuksellisen kansanvallan läpimurto |date=2006 |publisher=Edita |isbn=978-951-37-4541-7 |series=Suomen eduskunta 100 vuotta |location=Helsinki |oclc=ocm77267222}}</ref>
* 2000 – Section 14, al. 2 of the 2000 [[Constitution of Finland]] states that "Every Finnish citizen and every foreigner permanently resident in Finland, having attained eighteen years of age, has the right to vote in municipal elections and municipal referendums, as provided by an Act. Provisions on the right to otherwise participate in municipal government are laid down by an Act."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.finlex.fi/pdf/saadkaan/E9990731.PDF |title=The Constitution of Finland |date=11 June 1999 |access-date=10 December 2007 |archive-date=19 February 2002 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20020219100615/http://www.finlex.fi/pdf/saadkaan/E9990731.PDF |url-status=dead}}</ref>

===France===
* 11 August 1792: Introduction of universal suffrage (men only)
* 1795: Universal suffrage for men is replaced with indirect [[Census suffrage]]
* 13 December 1799: The [[Consulat|French Consulate]] re-establishes male universal suffrage increased from 246,000 to over 9&nbsp;million.
* In 1850 (31 May): The number of people eligible to vote is reduced by 30% by excluding criminals and the homeless.
* [[Napoleon III]] calls a referendum in 1851 (21 December), all men aged 21 and over are allowed to vote. Male universal suffrage is established thereafter.
* As of 21 April 1944 the franchise is extended to women over 21.
* Effective 9 July 1974 the minimum age to vote is reduced to 18 years old.<ref>{{cite news |title=France lowers age of minors to 18 |newspaper=Kitchener-Waterloo Record |location=Ontario |date=10 July 1974 |page=36}}</ref>

=== Germany ===

* [[Frankfurt Parliament|1848]] – male citizens (citizens of state in German Confederation), adult and "independent" got voting rights, male voting population - 85%<ref>{{Cite web |title=Geschichte des Wahlrechts |url=https://www.bundestagswahl-bw.de/geschichte-des-wahlrechts0 |access-date=20 March 2021 |website=bundestagswahl-bw.de |language=de-DE}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Verfassungen und Gesetze des Rheinbundes und des Deutschen Bundes (1806-1866) |url=http://www.verfassungen.de/de06-66/index.htm |access-date=20 March 2021 |website=verfassungen.de}}</ref>
* 1849 – male citizens above 25, not disfranchised, not declared legally incapable, did not claim pauper relief a year before the election, not a bankrupt nor in bankruptcy proceedings, not convicted of electoral fraud,<ref>{{Cite web |title=documentArchiv.de - Gesetz, betreffend die Wahlen der Abgeordneten zum Volkshause ["Frankfurter Reichswahlgesetz"] (12.04.1849) |url=http://www.documentarchiv.de/nzjh/1849/reichswahlgesetz1849.html |access-date=20 March 2021 |website=documentarchiv.de}}</ref>
* 1866 – male citizens above 25 (citizen for at least three years), not disfranchised, not declared legally incapable, did not claim pauper relief a year before the election, enrolled on the electoral roll, inhabitant of the electoral district,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Wahlgesetz für den konstituierenden Reichstag des Norddeutschen Bundes (1866 |url=http://www.verfassungen.de/de67-18/wahlgesetz66.htm |access-date=20 March 2021 |website=verfassungen.de}}</ref>
* 1869 – male citizens above 25 (citizens of state in North German Confederation), not disfranchised, not a bankrupt nor in bankruptcy proceedings, not serving soldier, did not claim pauper relief a year before the election, inhabitant of the electoral district, not in prison, not declared legally incapable,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Wahlgesetz für den Reichstag des Norddeutschen Bundes – Wikisource |url=https://de.wikisource.org/wiki/Wahlgesetz_f%C3%BCr_den_Reichstag_des_Norddeutschen_Bundes |access-date=20 March 2021 |website=de.wikisource.org |language=de}}</ref>
* 1918 - full suffrage for all citizens above 20<ref>{{Cite web |title=Deutsches Reichsgesetzblatt 1918 Nr. 167 – Wikisource |url=https://de.wikisource.org/wiki/Deutsches_Reichsgesetzblatt_1918 |access-date=18 March 2022 |website=de.wikisource.org |language=de}}</ref>
* 1970 - full suffrage for all citizens above 18<ref>{{Cite web |title=Plenarprotokoll Deutscher Bundestag 60. Sitzung |url=https://dserver.bundestag.de/btp/06/06060.pdf |access-date=18 March 2022 |website=Deutscher Bundestag |language=de}}</ref>
* 2019 - suffrage for citizens with [[insanity defense]], and persons under [[guardianship]].<ref>[https://www.bundesverfassungsgericht.de/SharedDocs/Pressemitteilungen/DE/2019/bvg19-013.html Wahlrechtsausschlüsse für Betreute in allen Angelegenheiten und wegen Schuldunfähigkeit untergebrachte Straftäter verfassungswidrig], exclusion from suffrage is unconstitutional, 29 January 2019.</ref>

===India===
Since the very first [[Indian general election, 1951–52|Indian general election held in 1951–52]], universal suffrage for all adult citizens aged 21 or older was established under Article 326 of the [[Constitution of India]]. The minimum voting age was reduced to 18 years by the [[Sixty-first Amendment of the Constitution of India|61st Amendment]], effective 28 March 1989.

===Ireland===
{{main|History of the franchise in Ireland}}

===Italy===
The Supreme Court states that "the rules derogating from the passive electoral law must be strictly interpreted".<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Buonomo |first1=Giampiero |title=Nel passaggio Usl-Asl solo tre dirigenti restano ineleggibili negli enti locali |journal=Diritto&Giustizia Edizione Online |year=2000 |url=https://www.questia.com/projects#!/project/89247417 |access-date=14 March 2016 |archive-date=11 December 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191211140818/https://www.questia.com/projects#!/project/89247417 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

===Japan===
{{Main|Suffrage in Japan}}
* 1889 – Male taxpayers above 25 that paid at least 15 JPY of tax got voting rights,<ref>{{Cite web |title=選挙のあゆみ |url=https://www.pref.yamaguchi.lg.jp/gyosei/senkyo/kids/02_ayumi/index.htm |access-date=20 March 2021 |website=pref.yamaguchi.lg.jp |archive-date=11 May 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210511225056/https://www.pref.yamaguchi.lg.jp/gyosei/senkyo/kids/02_ayumi/index.htm |url-status=dead}}</ref> the voting population were 450,000 (1.1% of Japan population),<ref name="city.kawasaki.jp 2010">{{Cite web |title=川崎市：日本の選挙権拡大の歴史 |url=https://www.city.kawasaki.jp/910/page/0000018982.html |access-date=20 March 2021 |website=city.kawasaki.jp |date=7 April 2010}}</ref>
*1900 – Male taxpayers above 25 that paid at least 10 JPY of tax got voting rights, the voting population were 980,000 (2.2% of Japan population),<ref name="city.kawasaki.jp 2010" />
*1919 – Male taxpayers above 25 that paid at least 3 JPY of tax got voting rights, the voting population were 3,070,000 (5.5% of Japan population)<ref name="gakusyu.shizuoka-c.ed.jp 2021">{{Cite web |title=わが国の選挙権の拡大 |url=https://gakusyu.shizuoka-c.ed.jp/shakai/seiji/02_2_senkyo_kakudai2.htm |access-date=20 March 2021 |website=gakusyu.shizuoka-c.ed.jp |archive-date=26 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210226060818/https://gakusyu.shizuoka-c.ed.jp/shakai/seiji/02_2_senkyo_kakudai2.htm |url-status=dead}}</ref>
*1925 – Male above 25 got voting rights, the voting population were 12,410,000 (20% of Japan population),<ref name="city.kawasaki.jp 2010" />
*1945 – Japan citizens above 20 got voting rights, the voting population were 36,880,000 (48.7% of Japan population),<ref name="gakusyu.shizuoka-c.ed.jp 2021" />
*2015 – Japan citizens above 18 got voting rights, voting population - 83.3% of Japan population.<ref>{{Cite web |title=選挙の歴史を学ぼう｜選挙フレンズ｜京都市選挙管理委員会事務局 |url=http://www2.city.kyoto.lg.jp/senkyo/senkyoFriends_html/senkyo/history.html |access-date=20 March 2021 |website=www2.city.kyoto.lg.jp}}</ref>

===New Zealand===
{{Main|History of voting in New Zealand}}
* 1853 – British government passes the [[New Zealand Constitution Act 1852]], granting limited self-rule, including a [[bicameral parliament]], to the colony. The vote was limited to male British subjects aged 21 or over who owned or rented sufficient property and were not imprisoned for a serious offence. Communally owned land was excluded from the property qualification, thus disenfranchising most [[Māori people|Māori]] (indigenous) men.
* 1860 – Franchise extended to holders of miner's licenses who met all voting qualifications except that of property.
* 1867 – [[Māori seats]] established, giving Māori four [[reserved seats]] in the [[lower house]]. There was no property qualification; thus Māori men gained universal suffrage before other New Zealanders. The number of seats did not reflect the size of the Māori population, but Māori men who met the property requirement for general electorates were able to vote in them or in the Māori electorates but not both.
* 1879 – Property requirement abolished.
* 1893 – [[Women's suffrage in New Zealand|Women won equal voting rights]] with men, making New Zealand the first nation in the world to allow women to vote.
* 1969 – Voting age lowered to 20.
* 1974 – Voting age lowered to 18.
* 1975 – Franchise extended to permanent residents of New Zealand, regardless of whether they have citizenship.
* 1996 – Number of Māori seats increased to reflect Māori population.
* 2010 – Prisoners imprisoned for one year or more denied voting rights while serving the sentence.

===Norway===
* 1814 – The [[Constitution of Norway|Norwegian constitution]] gave male landowners or officials above the age of 25 full voting rights.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://snl.no/Stemmerettens_historie_i_Norge |title=Stemmerettens historie i Norge |date=19 March 2021 |publisher=Espend Søbye |language=no}}</ref>
* 1885 – Male taxpayers that paid at least 500 [[Norwegian krone|NOK]] of tax (800 NOK in towns) got voting rights.
* 1900 – Universal suffrage for men over 25.
* 1901 – Women, over 25, paying tax or having common household with a man paying tax, got the right to vote in local elections.
* 1909 – Women, over 25, paying tax or having common household with a man paying tax, got full voting rights.
* 1913 – Universal suffrage for all over 25, applying from the election in 1915.
* 1920 – Voting age lowered to 23.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.nrk.no/norge/stemmerettens-historie-1.2678101 |title=Stemmerettens historie |date=12 June 2007 |publisher=Laila Ø. Bakken, NRK |language=no}}</ref>
* 1946 – Voting age lowered to 21.
* 1967 – Voting age lowered to 20.
* 1978 – Voting age lowered to 18.

===Poland===
* 1918 – In its first days of independence in 1918, after 123 years of partition, voting rights were granted to both men and women. Eight women were elected to the [[Sejm]] in 1919.
* 1952 – Voting age lowered to 18.

===Singapore===
{{See also|Voting rights in Singapore}}

===South Africa===
* 1910 – The [[Union of South Africa]] is established by the [[South Africa Act 1909]]. The [[House of Assembly (South Africa)|House of Assembly]] is elected by [[First-past-the-post voting|first-past-the-post]] voting in single-member constituencies. The franchise qualifications are the same as those previously existing for elections of the legislatures of the colonies that comprised the Union. In the [[Transvaal Province|Transvaal]] and the [[Orange Free State Province|Orange Free State]] the franchise is limited to [[white South African|white]] men. In [[Natal Province|Natal]] the franchise is limited to men meeting property and literacy qualifications; it was theoretically colour-blind but in practise nearly all non-white men were excluded. The traditional "[[Cape Qualified Franchise]]" of the [[Cape Province]] is limited to men meeting property and literacy qualifications and is colour-blind; nonetheless 85% of voters are white. The rights of non-white voters in the Cape Province are protected by an [[entrenched clause]] in the South Africa Act requiring a two-thirds vote in a joint sitting of both Houses of Parliament.
* 1930 – The [[Women's Enfranchisement Act, 1930]] extends the right to vote to all white women over the age of 21.
* 1931 – The [[Franchise Laws Amendment Act, 1931]] removes the property and literacy qualifications for all white men over the age of 21, but they are retained for non-white voters.
* 1936 – The [[Representation of Natives Act, 1936]] removes [[black African|black]] voters in the Cape Province from the common voters' roll and instead allows them to elect three "Native Representative Members" to the House of Assembly. Four [[Senate of South Africa|Senators]] are to be indirectly elected by chiefs and local authorities to represent black South Africans throughout the country. The act is passed with the necessary two-thirds majority in a joint sitting.
* 1951 – The [[Separate Representation of Voters Act, 1951]] is passed by Parliament by an ordinary majority in separate sittings. It purports to remove [[coloured]] voters in the Cape Province from the common voters' roll and instead allow them to elect four "Coloured Representative Members" to the House of Assembly.
* 1952 – In ''[[Harris v Minister of the Interior]]'' the Separate Representation of Voters Act is annulled by the Appellate Division of the [[Supreme Court of South Africa|Supreme Court]] because it was not passed with the necessary two-thirds majority in a joint sitting. Parliament passes the [[High Court of Parliament Act, 1952]], purporting to allow it to reverse this decision, but the Appellate Division annuls it as well.
* 1956 – By packing the Senate and the Appellate Division, the government passes the [[South Africa Act Amendment Act, 1956]], reversing the annulment of the Separate Representation of Voters Act and giving it the force of law.
* 1958 – The [[Electoral Law Amendment Act, 1958]] reduces the [[voting age]] for white voters from 21 to 18.
* 1959 – The [[Promotion of Bantu Self-government Act, 1959]] repeals the Representation of Natives Act, removing all representation of black people in Parliament.
* 1968 – The [[Separate Representation of Voters Amendment Act, 1968]] repeals the Separate Representation of Voters Act, removing all representation of coloured people in Parliament.
* 1969 – The first election of the [[Coloured Persons Representative Council]] (CPRC), which has limited legislative powers, is held. Every Coloured citizen over the age of 21 can vote for its members, in first-past-the-post elections in single-member constituencies.
* 1978 – The voting age for the CPRC is reduced from 21 to 18.
* 1981 – The first election of the [[South African Indian Council]] (SAIC), which has limited legislative powers, is held. Every [[Indian South African]] citizen over the age of 18 can vote for its members, in first-past-the-post elections in single-member constituencies.
* 1984 – The [[South African Constitution of 1983|Constitution of 1983]] establishes the [[Tricameral Parliament]]. Two new Houses of Parliament are created, the [[House of Representatives (South Africa)|House of Representatives]] to represent coloured citizens and the [[House of Delegates (South Africa)|House of Delegates]] to represent Indian citizens. Every coloured and Indian citizen over the age of 18 can vote in elections for the relevant house. As with the House of Assembly, the members are elected by first-past-the-post voting in single-member constituencies. The CPRC and SAIC are abolished.
* 1994 – With the end of [[apartheid]], the [[South African Constitution of 1993|Interim Constitution of 1993]] abolishes the Tricameral Parliament and all racial discrimination in voting rights. A new [[National Assembly of South Africa|National Assembly]] is created, and every South African citizen over the age of 18 has the right to vote for the assembly. The right to vote is also extended to long term residents. It is estimated the 500 000 foreign nationals voted in the 1994 national and provincial elections. Elections of the assembly are based on [[party-list proportional representation]]. The [[right to vote]] is enshrined in the [[Bill of Rights (South Africa)|Bill of Rights]].
* 1999 – In ''[[August and Another v Electoral Commission and Others]]'' the [[Constitutional Court of South Africa|Constitutional Court]] rules that prisoners cannot be denied the right to vote without a law that explicitly does so.
* 2003 – The [[Electoral Laws Amendment Act, 2003]] purports to prohibit convicted prisoners from voting.
* 2004 – In ''[[Minister of Home Affairs v NICRO and Others]]'' the Constitutional Court rules that prisoners cannot be denied the right to vote, and invalidates the laws that do so.
* 2009 – In ''[[Richter v Minister for Home Affairs and Others]]'' the Constitutional Court rules that South African citizens outside the country cannot be denied the right to vote.

===Sri Lanka===
* 1931 - [[Donoughmore Constitution]] granted equal suffrage for women and men, with voting possible at 21 with no property restrictions.

===Sweden===
* 1809 – New [[constitution]] adopted and [[separation of power]]s outlined in the [[Instrument of Government (1809)|Instrument of Government]].
* 1810 – The [[Swedish Parliament Act of 1810|Riksdag Act]], setting out the procedures of functioning of the [[Riksdag]], is introduced.
* 1862 – Under the [[Swedish municipal reforms of 1862|municipal laws of 1862]], some women were entitled to vote in [[local elections]].
* 1865 – [[Parliament of Four Estates]] abolished and replaced by a [[bicameral]] [[legislature]]. The members of the First Chamber were elected indirectly by the county councils and the municipal assemblies in the larger towns and cities.
* 1909 – All men who had done their [[military service]] and who paid [[tax]] were granted suffrage.
* 1918 – [[Universal Suffrage|Universal]], and [[#Equal suffrage|equal]] suffrage were introduced for [[local elections]].
* 1919 – [[Universal Suffrage|Universal]], [[#Equal suffrage|equal]], and [[women's suffrage]] granted for general elections.
* 1921 – First [[1921 Swedish general election|general election]] with [[Universal Suffrage|universal]], [[#Equal suffrage|equal]], and [[women's suffrage]] enacted, although some groups were still unable to vote.
* 1922 – Requirement that men had to have completed national [[military service]] to be able to vote abolished.
* 1937 – [[Intern]]s in [[prison]]s and [[Psychiatric hospital|institutions]] granted suffrage.
* 1945 – Individuals who had gone into [[bankruptcy]] or were dependent on [[welfare spending|welfare]] granted suffrage.
* 1970 – Indirectly elected [[upper chamber]] dismantled.<ref>{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/tageerlanderserv00ruin |url-access=registration |quote=riksdag bicameral. |last=Ruin |first=Olof |title=Tage Erlander: serving the welfare state, 1946–1969 |series=Pitt series in policy and institutional studies, 99-0818751-1 |year=1990 |publisher=University of Pittsburgh Press |location=Pittsburgh, Pa. |isbn=9780822936312 |id={{LIBRIS|5791923}} |page=[https://archive.org/details/tageerlanderserv00ruin/page/93 93]}}</ref>{{Relevance inline|date=May 2018}}
* 1974 – [[Instrument of Government (1809)|Instrument of Government]] stopped being enforced.{{Context inline|date=May 2018}}.
* 1989 – The final limitations on suffrage abolished along with the [[Riksdag]]'s decision to abolish the 'declaration of legal incompetency'.<ref>[http://www.riksdagen.se/en/how-the-riksdag-works/democracy/the-history-of-the-riksdag/ History of the Riksdag] Official Riksdag Website. Retrieved 19 May 2018</ref>

===Turkey===
{{Main|Women in Turkish politics}}
* 1926 – [[Turkish civil code (1926)|Turkish civil code]] (Equality in civil rights)
* 1930 – Right to vote in local elections
* 1933 – First woman muhtar (Village head) [[Gülkız Ürbül]] in [[Karpuzlu|Demircidere]] village, [[Aydın Province]] 
* 1934 – Right to vote in General elections
* 1935 – First 18 Women MPs in [[Grand National Assembly of Turkey|Turkish parliament]]
* 1950 – First woman city mayor [[Müfide İlhan]] in [[Mersin]]

===United Kingdom===
{{See also|Reform Acts|Elections in the United Kingdom#History|Women's suffrage in the United Kingdom}}
[[File:The national convention. As it met on Monday the 4th of February, 1839, at the British Coffee House ca. 1839 LCCN2004669356.jpg|thumb|The [[Chartism|Chartists']] National Convention at the British Coffee House in February 1839]]
From 1265, a few percent of the adult male population in the [[Kingdom of England]] (of which Wales was a [[Laws in Wales Acts 1535 and 1542|full and equal member from 1542]]) were able to vote in [[List of Parliaments of England|parliamentary elections]] that occurred at irregular intervals to the [[Parliament of England]].<ref>{{cite web |title=Origins and growth of Parliament |url=http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/pathways/citizenship/citizen_subject/origins.htm |publisher=The National Archives |access-date=18 May 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Getting the vote |url=http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/pathways/citizenship/struggle_democracy/getting_vote.htm |publisher=The National Archives |access-date=18 May 2015}}</ref> The franchise for the [[Parliament of Scotland]] developed separately. King [[Henry VI of England]] established in 1432 that only [[Forty shilling freeholders|owners of property worth at least forty shillings]], a significant sum, were entitled to vote in an English [[county constituency]]. The franchise was restricted to males by custom rather than statute.<ref>{{citation |title=The History of the Parliamentary Franchise |chapter-url=http://researchbriefings.parliament.uk/ResearchBriefing/Summary/RP13-14 |publisher=House of Commons Library |access-date=16 March 2016 |date=1 March 2013 |chapter=Ancient voting rights |page=6}}</ref> Changes were made to the details of the system, but there was no major reform until the [[Reform Act 1832#The franchise|Reform Act 1832]].{{refn|group=nb|Until this Act specified 'male persons', a few women had been able to vote in parliamentary elections through property ownership, although this was rare.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Heater |first1=Derek |title=Citizenship in Britain: A History |date=2006 |publisher=Edinburgh University Press |isbn=9780748626724 |page=107 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=js-qBgAAQBAJ&pg=PA107}}</ref>}} A series of [[Reform Acts]] and [[Representation of the People Act]]s followed. In 1918, all men over 21 and some women over 30 won the right to vote, and in 1928 all women over 21 won the right to vote resulting in universal suffrage.<ref>{{cite web |title=The History of the Parliamentary Franchise |url=http://researchbriefings.parliament.uk/ResearchBriefing/Summary/RP13-14 |publisher=House of Commons Library |access-date=16 March 2016 |date=1 March 2013}}</ref>
*[[Reform Act 1832]] – extended voting rights to adult males who rented propertied land of a certain value, so allowing 1 in 7 adult males in the UK voting rights.
*[[Chartism]] – The People's Charter was drawn up in 1838 by the [[London Working Men's Association]]. The following year, the first Chartist petition was presented to [[House of Commons of the United Kingdom|House of Commons]]. Further Chartist petitions were presented in 1842 and 1848.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Key dates |url=https://www.parliament.uk/about/living-heritage/transformingsociety/electionsvoting/chartists/keydates/ |website=UK Parliament}}</ref>
* [[Reform Act 1867]] – extended the franchise to men in urban areas who met a property qualification, so increasing male suffrage.
* [[Representation of the People Act 1884|Reform Act 1884]] – addressed imbalances between the boroughs and the countryside; this brought the voting population to 5,500,000, although 40% of males were still disenfranchised because of the property qualification.
* Between 1885 and 1918 moves were made by the [[Women's suffrage in the United Kingdom#Formation of a national movement|women's suffrage]] movement to ensure votes for women. However, the duration of the First World War stopped this reform movement.
* [[Representation of the People Act 1918]] – the consequences of World War I persuaded the government to expand the right to vote, not only for the many men who fought in the war who were disenfranchised, but also for the women who worked in factories, agriculture and elsewhere as part of the war effort, often substituting for enlisted men and including dangerous work such as in munitions factories. All men aged 21 and over were given the right to vote. Property restrictions for voting were lifted for men. The local government franchise was extended to include all women over 21, on the same terms as men. Parliamentary Votes were given to 40% of women, with property restrictions and limited to those over 30 years old. This increased the electorate from 7.7&nbsp;million to 21.4&nbsp;million with women making up 8.5&nbsp;million of the electorate. Seven percent of the electorate had more than one vote, either because they owned business property or because they were university graduates. The first election with this system was the [[1918 United Kingdom general election|1918 general election]].
* [[Representation of the People Act 1928]] – equal suffrage for women and men, with voting possible at 21 with no property restrictions.
* [[Representation of the People Act 1948]] – removed [[plural voting]] in parliamentary elections for university graduates and business owners.
* [[Representation of the People Act 1969]] – extension of suffrage to those 18 and older, the first major democratic country to do so,<ref name="Bingham 2019"/><ref>{{Cite web |last1=Loughran |first1=Thomas |last2=Mycock |first2=Andrew |last3=Tonge |first3=Jonathan |date=3 November 2021 |title=Lowering the voting age: three lessons from the 1969 Representation of the People's Act |url=https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/politicsandpolicy/lessons-from-the-1969-representation-of-the-peoples-act/ |access-date=31 December 2022 |website=British Politics and Policy at LSE}}</ref> and abolition of plural voting in local government elections.

===United States===
{{Main|Voting rights in the United States}}
The [[Constitution of the United States]] did not originally define who was eligible to vote, allowing each state to decide this status. In the early history of the U.S., most states allowed only [[White American|white]] male adult property owners to vote (about 6% of the population).<ref>{{cite web |title=Expansion of Rights and Liberties – The Right of Suffrage |url=https://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/charters_of_freedom_13.html |website=Online Exhibit: The Charters of Freedom |publisher=National Archives |access-date=21 April 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160706144856/http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/charters/charters_of_freedom_13.html |archive-date=6 July 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |first1=Kenneth |last1=Janda |first2=Jeffrey M. |last2=Berry |first3=Jerry |last3=Goldman |title=The challenge of democracy : government in America |date=2008 |publisher=Houghton Mifflin |isbn=9780618990948 |page=[https://archive.org/details/challengeofdemoc0009jand/page/207 207] |edition=9. ed., update |url=https://archive.org/details/challengeofdemoc0009jand |url-access=registration |postscript=none}}; {{cite book |last1=Murrin |first1=John M. |last2=Johnson |first2=Paul E. |last3=McPherson |first3=James M. |last4=Fahs |first4=Alice |last5=Gerstle |first5=Gary |title=Liberty, Equality, Power: A History of the American People |date=2012 |publisher=Wadsworth, Cengage Learning |isbn=9780495904991 |page=296 |edition=6th |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FGSQOiy6uZUC&pg=PT337}}</ref> By 1856 property ownership requirements were eliminated in all states, giving suffrage to most white men. However, tax-paying requirements remained in five states until 1860 and in two states until the 20th century.<ref name="Engerman 2005">{{cite web |first1=Stanley L. |last1=Engerman |first2=Kenneth L. |last2=Sokoloff |title=The Evolution of Suffrage Institutions in the New World |date=February 2005 |url=http://economics.yale.edu/sites/default/files/files/Workshops-Seminars/Economic-History/sokoloff-050406.pdf |pages=16, 35 |quote=By 1840, only three states retained a property qualification, North Carolina (for some state-wide offices only), Rhode Island, and Virginia. In 1856 North Carolina was the last state to end the practice. Tax-paying qualifications were also gone in all but a few states by the Civil War, but they survived into the 20th century in Pennsylvania and Rhode Island. |access-date=10 March 2016 |archive-date=11 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201111211244/http://economics.yale.edu/sites/default/files/files/Workshops-Seminars/Economic-History/sokoloff-050406.pdf |url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=U.S. Voting Rights |url=http://www.infoplease.com/timelines/voting.html |publisher=Infoplease |access-date=21 April 2015}}</ref>

Since the [[American Civil War|Civil War]], five amendments to the Constitution have limited the ways in which the right to vote may be restricted in American elections, though none have added a general right to vote.<ref group=nb>The [[Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution|14th Amendment]] (1868) altered the way each state is represented in the [[United States House of Representatives|House of Representatives]]. It counted all residents for apportionment including former slaves, overriding the [[three-fifths compromise]] of the original Constitution; it also reduced a state's apportionment if it wrongfully denied the right to vote to males over age 21. However, this sanction was not enforced in practice.</ref>
* [[Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution|15th Amendment]] (1870): "The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude."
* [[Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution|19th Amendment]] (1920): "The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of sex."
* [[Twenty-third Amendment to the United States Constitution|23rd Amendment]] (1961): provides that residents of the [[District of Columbia]] can vote for the President and Vice President.
* [[Twenty-fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution|24th Amendment]] (1964): "The right of citizens of the United States to vote in any primary or other election for President or Vice President, for electors for President or Vice President, or for Senator or Representative in Congress, shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any State by reason of failure to pay any poll tax or other tax." This did not change the rules for state elections.
* [[Twenty-sixth Amendment to the United States Constitution|26th Amendment]] (1971): "The right of citizens of the United States, who are eighteen years of age or older, to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of age."

The use of [[grandfather clause]]s to allow European-Americans to vote while excluding African-Americans from voting was ruled unconstitutional in the 1915 decision ''[[Guinn v. United States]]''. States continued to use [[literacy test]]s and [[poll tax]]es, which also disenfranchised poor white citizens. Racial equality in voting was substantially secured after the passage of the [[Voting Rights Act of 1965]], a major victory in the [[Civil Rights Movement]]. State elections, it was not until the 1966 decision ''[[Harper v. Virginia Board of Elections]]'' that the U.S. Supreme Court declared state poll taxes violated the [[Equal Protection Clause]] of the Fourteenth Amendment.<ref name="Scher 2015">{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=POzqBgAAQBAJ&pg=PR9 |title=The Politics of Disenfranchisement: Why is it So Hard to Vote in America? |last=Scher |first=Richard K. |date=2015 |page=viii–ix |publisher=[[Routledge]] |isbn=9781317455363}}</ref><ref name="NHLTS 2009">{{Cite web |year=2009 |title=Civil Rights in America: Racial Voting Rights |url=https://www.nps.gov/nhl/learn/themes/CivilRights_VotingRights.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150702010008/http://www.nps.gov/nhl/learn/themes/CivilRights_VotingRights.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-date=2 July 2015 |publisher=A National Historic Landmarks Theme Study}}</ref>

===Majority-Muslim countries===
{{Main|Timeline of first women's suffrage in majority-Muslim countries}}

== See also ==
* [[Constituency]]
* [[Democracy]]
* [[Direct democracy]]
* [[Disenfranchisement]]
* [[List of suffragists and suffragettes]]
* [[Voting system]]
* [[Youth suffrage]]
* [[Anti-suffragism]]
* [[Women's suffrage]]

==Notes==
{{Reflist|group=nb}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Bibliography==
{{see also|Women's suffrage in the United Kingdom#Further reading|List of suffragists and suffragettes#Women's suffrage publications}}
* Adams, Jad. ''Women and the vote: A world history'' (Oxford University Press, 2014); wide-ranging scholarly survey. [https://www.amazon.com/Women-Vote-History-Jad-Adams/dp/0198706847/ excerpt]
* Atkinson, Neill. ''Adventures in Democracy: A History of the Vote in New Zealand'' (Dunedin: University of Otago Press, 2003).
* Banyikwa, A.K., "Gender and Elections in Africa" in ''The Routledge Handbook of Gender and Elections'' (2019)
* Banyikwa, A.K., and G.L. Brown. "Women's Suffrage in Africa" in ''Encyclopedias of Contemporary Women's Issues'' (2020)
* Barnes, Joel. "The British women's suffrage movement and the ancient constitution, 1867–1909." ''Historical Research'' 91.253 (2018): 505-527.
* Crook, Malcolm. "Universal Suffrage as Counter‐Revolution? Electoral Mobilisation under the Second Republic in France, 1848–1851." ''Journal of Historical Sociology'' 28.1 (2015): 49-66.
* Daley, Caroline, and Melanie Nolan, eds. ''Suffrage and beyond: International feminist perspectives'' (NYU Press, 1994).
* Edwards, Louise P. and Mina Roces, eds. ''Women's Suffrage in Asia: Gender, Nationalism, and Democracy'' (Routledge, 2004).
* Kenney, Anne R. ''Women's Suffrage and Social Politics in the French Third Republic'' (1984).
* Mukherjee, Sumita. ''Indian Suffragettes: Female Identities and Transnational Networks'' (Oxford University Press, New Delhi, 2018)
* Mukherjee, Sumita. "Sisters in Arms" ''History Today'' (Dec 2018) 68#12 pp.&nbsp;72–83. Short popular overview woman suffrage of major countries.
* Oguakwa, P.K. "Women's suffrage in Africa" in ''The Oxford Encyclopedia of Women in World History'' (2008)
*Juhani Mylly: Edustuksellisen kansanvallan läpimurto. Helsinki: Suomen eduskunta (Edita), 2006. ISBN 951-37-4541-4
* Pedroza, Luicy. "The democratic potential of enfranchising resident migrants." ''International Migration'' 53.3 (2015): 22-35. [https://www.academia.edu/download/86221636/imig.1216220220520-1-1vve5kw.pdf online]
* Purvis, June, and June Hannam, eds. ''The British Women's Suffrage Campaign: National and International Perspectives'' (Routledge, 2021)
* Rose, Carol. "The Issue of Parliamentary Suffrage at the Frankfurt National Assembly." ''Central European History'' 5.2 (1972): 127-149. regarding universal suffrage in German history.
* Sangster, Joan. ''One Hundred Years of Struggle: The History of Women and the Vote in Canada'' (2018)
* Seghezza, Elena, and Pierluigi Morelli. "Suffrage extension, social identity, and redistribution: the case of the Second Reform Act." ''European Review of Economic History'' 23.1 (2019): 30-49. on 1867 law in Britain
* Senigaglia, Cristiana. "The debate on democratization and parliament in Germany from 1871 to 1918." ''Parliaments, Estates and Representation'' 40.3 (2020): 290-307.
* Smith, Paul. "Political parties, parliament and women's suffrage in France, 1919–1939." ''French History'' 11.3 (1997): 338-358.
* Teele, Dawn Langan. ''Forging the Franchise'' (Princeton University Press, 2018); why US and Britain came early.
* Towns, Ann. "Global Patterns and Debates in the Granting of Women's Suffrage." in ''The Palgrave Handbook of Women's Political Rights'' (Palgrave Macmillan, London, 2019) pp.&nbsp;3–19.
* Willis, Justin, Gabrielle Lynch, and Nic Cheeseman. "Voting, Nationhood, and Citizenship in late-colonial Africa." ''Historical Journal'' 61.4 (2018): 1113–1135. [http://dro.dur.ac.uk/24586/1/24586.pdf online]

===United States===
* Englert, Gianna. {{"'}}Not more democratic, but more moral': Tocqueville on the suffrage in America and France." ''The Tocqueville Review'' 42.2 (2021): 105-120.
* Keyssar, Alexander. ''The Right to Vote: The Contested History of Democracy in the United States'' (New York: Basic Books, 2000). {{ISBN|0-465-02968-X}}.
* Lichtman, Allan J.  ''The Embattled Vote in America: From the Founding to the Present'' (Harvard UP. 2018)
* U.S. Commission on Civil Rights: [https://ssrn.com/abstract=268118 ''Reports on Voting'' (2005)] {{ISBN|978-0-8377-3103-2}}.

==External links==
{{wikiquote}}
{{commons category|Suffrage}}
{{Scholia|topic}}
* [https://wayback.archive-it.org/all/20081025010137/http://www.elections.ca/content.asp?section=gen&dir=his&document=index&textonly=false A History of the Vote in Canada], Chief Electoral Officer of Canada, 2007.
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20081122124056/http://www2.marianopolis.edu/quebechistory/encyclopedia/Canada-WomensVote-WomenSuffrage.htm Suffrage in Canada]
* [http://www.lwl.org/westfaelische-geschichte/portal/Internet/ku.php?tab=web&ID=600 Women's suffrage in Germany]—19 January 1919—first suffrage (active and passive) for women in Germany
* {{Cite NIE |wstitle=Suffrage |short=x}}

{{Suffrage}}
{{Human rights}}{{Substantive human rights}}{{Discrimination}}
{{Authority control}}
[[Category:Suffrage| ]]
[[Category:Political law]]