Women's suffrage

Women's suffrageis theright of womentovote in elections.At the beginning of the 18th century, some people sought to change voting laws to allow women to vote. Liberal political parties would go on to grant women the right to vote, increasing the number of those parties' potential constituencies. National and international organizations formed to coordinate efforts towards women voting, especially theInternational Woman Suffrage Alliance(founded in 1904 inBerlin,Germany).

Several instances occurred in recent centuries where women were selectively given, then stripped of, the right to vote. In Sweden, conditional women's suffrage was in effect during theAge of Liberty(1718–1772), as well as inRevolutionaryand early-independenceNew Jersey(1776–1807) in the US.

The first territory tocontinuouslyallow women to vote to this present day is thePitcairn Islandssince 1838. TheKingdom of Hawai'i,which originally had universal suffrage in 1840, rescinded this in 1852 and was subsequently annexed by the United States in 1898. In the years after 1869, a number of provinces held by theBritishandRussian empiresconferred women's suffrage, and some of these became sovereign nations at a later point, like New Zealand, Australia, andFinland.Several states and territories of the United States, such as Wyoming (1869) and Utah (1870), also granted women the right to vote. Women who owned property gained the right to vote in theIsle of Manin 1881, and in 1893, women in the then self-governingBritishcolony of New Zealandwere granted the right to vote. In Australia, the colony ofSouth Australiaconferred voter rights on all women from 1894, and the right to stand for Parliament from 1895, while theAustralian Federal Parliamentconferred the right to vote and stand for election in 1902 (although it allowed for the exclusion of "aboriginal natives" ).Prior to independence, in the RussianGrand Duchy of Finland,women gained equal suffrage, with both the right to vote and to stand as candidates in 1906.Most major Western powers extended voting rights to women in the interwar period, including Canada (1917), Germany (1918), the United Kingdom (1918for some women,1928for all women),Austria,theNetherlands(1919) and the United States (1920).Notable exceptions in Europe were France, where women could not vote until 1944,Greece(equal voting rights for women did not exist there until 1952, although, since 1930, literate women were able to vote in local elections), andSwitzerland(where, since 1971, women could vote at the federal level, and between 1959 and 1990, women got the right to vote at the local canton level). The last European jurisdictions to give women the right to vote wereLiechtensteinin1984and the Swiss canton ofAppenzell Innerrhodenat the local level in 1990,with theVatican Citybeing anabsoluteelective monarchy(the electorate of theHoly See,theconclave,is composed of malecardinals,rather than Vatican citizens). In some cases ofdirect democracy,such as Swiss cantons governed byLandsgemeinden,objections to expanding the suffrage claimed that logistical limitations, and the absence ofsecret ballot,made it impractical as well as unnecessary; others, such asAppenzell Ausserrhoden,instead abolished the system altogether for both women and men.

Leslie Humeargues that theFirst World Warchanged the popular mood:

The women's contribution to the war effort challenged the notion of women's physical and mental inferiority and made it more difficult to maintain that women were, both by constitution and temperament, unfit to vote. If women could work in munitions factories, it seemed both ungrateful and illogical to deny them a place in thevoting booth.But the vote was much more than simply a reward for war work; the point was that women's participation in the war helped to dispel the fears that surrounded women's entry into the public arena.

Pre-WWI opponents of women's suffrage such as theWomen's National Anti-Suffrage Leaguecited women's relative inexperience in military affairs. They claimed that since women were the majority of the population, women should vote in local elections, but due to a lack of experience in military affairs, they asserted that it would be dangerous to allow them to vote in national elections.

Extended political campaigns by women and their supporters were necessary to gain legislation or constitutional amendments for women's suffrage. In many countries, limited suffrage for women was granted beforeuniversal suffragefor men; for instance, literate women or property owners were granted suffrage before all men received it. The United Nations encouraged women's suffrage in the years following World War II, and theConvention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women(1979) identifies it as a basic right with 189 countries currently being parties to this convention.

History

Women's suffrage globally by decade of approval.

Before 1910

1911-1920

1921-1930

1931-1940

1941-1950

1951-1960

1961-1970

1971-1980

After 1980

No elections

For a chronological guide, seeTimeline of women's suffrage.

Anna II, Abbess of Quedlinburg.In the pre-modern era in some parts of Europe,abbesseswere permitted to participate and vote in various European national assemblies by virtue of their rank within the Roman Catholic and Protestant churches.

Before the 19th century

In ancientAthens,often cited as the birthplace of democracy, only adult male citizens who owned land were permitted to vote.Through subsequent centuries, Europe was ruled by monarchs, though various forms of parliament arose at different times. The high rank ascribed toabbesseswithin theCatholic Churchpermitted 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.

Marie Guyart,a French nun who worked with theFirst Nationspeople of Canada during the 17th century, wrote in 1654 regarding the suffrage practices ofIroquoiswomen: "These female chieftains are women of standing amongst the savages, and they have a deciding vote in the councils. They make decisions there like their male counterparts, and it is they who even delegated as first ambassadors to discuss peace."The Iroquois, like many First Nations in North America,had amatrilinealkinship system.Property and descent were passed through the female line. Women elders voted on hereditary male chiefs and could depose them.

South AustraliansuffragistCatherine Helen Spencestood for office in 1897. In a first for the modern world, South Australia granted women the right to stand for Parliament in 1895.

Marie Stritt(1855–1928), German suffragist, co-founder of theInternational Alliance of Women

The first independent country to introduce women's suffrage was arguably Sweden. In Sweden, conditional women's suffrage was in effect during theAge of Liberty(1718–1772).

In 1756,Lydia Taftbecame the first legal woman voter in colonial America. This occurred underBritish rulein theMassachusetts Colony.In aNew Englandtown meetinginUxbridge,Massachusetts, she voted on at least three occasions.Unmarried white women who owned property could vote inNew Jerseyfrom 1776 to 1807.

In the 1792 elections inSierra Leone,then a new British colony, all heads of household could vote and one-third were ethnic African women.

Other early instances of women's suffrage include theCorsican Republic(1755), thePitcairn Islands(1838), theIsle of Man(1881), andFranceville(1889–1890), but some of these operated only briefly as independent states and others were not clearly independent.

19th century

The female descendants of theBountymutineerswho lived onPitcairn Islandscould vote from 1838. This right was transferred after they resettled in 1856 toNorfolk Island(now an Australian external territory).

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

The seed for the first Woman's Rights Convention in the United States inSeneca Falls,New York, was planted in 1840, whenElizabeth Cady StantonmetLucretia Mottat theWorld Anti-Slavery Conventionin London. The conference refused to seat Mott and other women delegates from the U.S. because of their sex. In 1851, Stanton met temperance workerSusan B. Anthony,and shortly the two would be joined in the long struggle to secure the vote for women in the U.S. In 1868 Anthony encouraged working women from the printing and sewing trades in New York, who were excluded from men's trade unions, to form Working Women's Associations. As a delegate to the National Labor Congress in 1868, Anthony persuaded the committee on female labor to call for votes for women and equal pay for equal work. The men at the conference deleted the reference to the vote.In the US, women in theWyoming Territorywere permitted to both vote and stand for office in 1869.Subsequent American suffrage groups often disagreed on tactics, with theNational American Woman Suffrage Associationarguing for a state-by-state campaign and theNational Woman's Partyfocusing on an amendment to the U.S. Constitution.

The1840 constitutionof the Kingdom of Hawaii established a House of Representatives, but did not specify who was eligible to participate in the election of it. Some academics have argued that this omission enabled women to vote in the first elections, in which votes were cast by means of signatures onpetitions;but this interpretation remains controversial.Thesecond constitution of 1852specified that suffrage was restricted to males over twenty years-old.

In 1849, theGrand Duchy of Tuscany,in Italy, was the first European state to have a law that provided for the vote of women, for administrative elections, taking up a tradition that was already informally sometimes present in Italy.

The 1853 Constitution of the province of Vélez in theRepublic of New Granada,modern dayColombia,allowed for married women, or women older than the age of 21, the right to vote within the province. However, this law was subsequently annulled by theSupreme Court of the Republic,arguing that the citizens of the province could not have more rights than those already guaranteed to the citizens of the other provinces of the country, thus eliminating female suffrage from this province in 1856.

In 1881 theIsle of Man,an internally self-governing dependent territory of the British Crown, enfranchised women property owners. With this it provided the first action for women's suffrage within theBritish Isles.

ThePacificcommune ofFranceville(nowPort Vila, Vanuatu), maintained independence from 1889 to 1890, becoming the firstself-governingnation to adopt universal suffrage without distinction of sex or color, although only white males were permitted to hold office.

For countries that have their origins in self-governing colonies but later became independent nations in the 20th century, theColony of New Zealandwas the first to acknowledge women's right to vote in 1893, largely due to a movement led byKate Sheppard.The British protectorate ofCook Islandsrendered the same right in 1893 as well.Another British colony in the same decade,South Australia,followed in 1894,enacting lawswhich not only extended voting to women, but also made women eligible to stand for election to its parliament at the next vote in 1895.

20th century

French pro-suffrage poster, 1934

Following thefederation of the British colonies in Australiain 1901, the new federal government enacted theCommonwealth Franchise Act 1902which allowed femaleBritish subjectsto vote and stand for election on the same terms as men. However, manyindigenous Australiansremained excluded from voting federally until 1962.

The first place in Europe to introduce women's suffrage was theGrand Duchy of Finlandin 1906, and it also became the first place in continental Europe to implement racially-equal suffrage for women.As a result of the1907 parliamentary elections,Finland's voters elected 19 women as the first female members of a representative parliament. This was one of many self-governing actions in the Russian autonomous province that led to conflict with the Russian governor of Finland, ultimately leading to thecreation of the Finnish nationin 1917.

In the years beforeWorld War I,women in Norway also won the right to vote. During WWI, Denmark, Russia, Germany, and Poland also recognized women's right to vote.

Canada gave right to vote to some white women in 1917; women getting vote on same basis as men in 1920, that is, men and women of certain races or status being excluded from voting until 1960, when universal adult suffrage was achieved.

ABermuda PoliceSergeantconfiscates women's suffrage activistGladys Morrell's table in the 1930s.

TheRepresentation of the People Act 1918saw British women over 30 gain the vote. Dutch women won the passive vote (allowed to run for parliament) after a revision of the Dutch Constitution in 1917 and the active vote (electing representatives) in 1919, and American women on August 26, 1920, with the passage of the19th Amendment(theVoting Rights Act of 1965secured voting rights for racial minorities). Irish women won the same voting rights as men in theIrish Free Stateconstitution, 1922. In 1928, British women won suffrage on the same terms as men, that is, for ages 21 and older. The suffrage of Turkish women was introduced in 1930 for local elections and in 1934 for national elections.

As the 19th Amendment passed and fully gave women the right to the vote, there were other contributors that made this happen. One of which beingAlice Paulas she helped sealed the path of this right for women in the 1920s.

By the time French women were granted the suffrage in July 1944 byCharles de Gaulle's government in exile, by a vote of 51 for, 16 against,France had been for about a decade the only Western country that did not at least allow women's suffrage at municipal elections.

Voting rights for women were introduced intointernational lawby the United Nations' Human Rights Commission, whose elected chair wasEleanor Roosevelt.In 1948 the United Nations adopted theUniversal Declaration of Human Rights;Article 21 stated: "(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."

TheUnited Nations General Assemblyadopted theConvention on the Political Rights of Women,which went into force in 1954, enshrining the equal rights of women to vote, hold office, and access public services as set out by national laws.

21st century

One of the most recent jurisdictions to acknowledge women's full right to vote wasBhutanin 2008 (its first national elections).Most recently, KingAbdullah of Saudi Arabialet Saudi women vote and run for office for the first time in the2015 local elections.

Suffrage movements

After selling her home, British activistEmmeline Pankhursttravelled constantly, giving speeches throughout Britain and the United States. One of her most famous speeches,Freedom or death,was delivered in Connecticut in 1913.

The suffrage movement was a broad one, made up of women and men with a wide range of views. In terms of diversity, the greatest achievement of the 20th-century woman suffrage movement was its extremely broad class base.One major division, especially in Britain, was between suffragists, who sought to create change constitutionally, andsuffragettes,led by English political activistEmmeline Pankhurst,who in 1903 formed the more militantWomen's Social and Political Union.Pankhurst would not be satisfied with anything but action on the question of women's enfranchisement, with "deeds, not words" the organization's motto.

Elizabeth Cady StantonandLucretia Mottwere the first two women in America to organize the women's rights convention in July 1848.Susan B. Anthonylater joined the movement and helped form the National Woman's Suffrage Association (NWSA) in May 1869. Their goal was to change the 15th Amendment because it did not mention nor include women which is why the NWSA protested against it. Around the same time, there was also another group of women who supported the 15th amendment and they called themselves American Woman Suffrage Association (AWSA). The American Women Suffrage Association was founded byLucy Stone,Julia Ward Howe,andThomas Wentworth Higginson,who were more focused on gaining access at a local level.The two groups united became one and called themselves the National American Woman Suffrage Association (NAWSA).

Throughout the world, theWomen's Christian Temperance Union(WCTU), which was established in the United States in 1873, campaigned for women's suffrage, in addition to ameliorating the condition of prostitutes.Under the leadership ofFrances Willard,"the WCTU became the largest women's organization of its day and is now the oldest continuing women's organization in the United States."

There was also a diversity of views on a "woman's place". Suffragist themes often included the notions that women were naturally kinder and more concerned about children and the elderly. As Kraditor shows, it was often assumed that women voters would have a civilizing effect on politics, opposing domestic violence, liquor, and emphasizing cleanliness and community. An opposing theme, Kraditor argues, held that women had the same moral standards. They should be equal in every way and that there was no such thing as a woman's "natural role".

For Black women in the United States, achieving suffrage was a way to counter the disfranchisement of the men of their race.Despite this discouragement, black suffragists continued to insist on their equal political rights. Starting in the 1890s, African American women began to assert their political rights aggressively from within their own clubs and suffrage societies."If white American women, with all their natural and acquired advantages, need the ballot," arguedAdella Hunt Loganof Tuskegee, Alabama, "how much more do black Americans, male and female, need the strong defense of a vote to help secure their right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness?"

Explanations for suffrage extensions

Scholars have proposed different theories for variations in the timing of women's suffrage across countries. These explanations include the activism of social movements, cultural diffusion and normative change, the electoral calculations of political parties, and the occurrence of major wars.According to Adam Przeworski, women's suffrage tends to be extended in the aftermath of major wars.

Impact

Scholars have linked women's suffrage to subsequent economic growth,the rise of the welfare state,and less interstate conflict.

Timeline

Timeline of National elections

See also:Timeline of women's suffrage National elections suspended or otherwise not taking place. Country Year women first granted suffrage at national level Notes Afghanistan 1964 Albania 1945 Albanian women voted for the first time in the1945 election. Algeria 1962 In 1962, on its independence from France, Algeria granted equal voting rights to all men and women. Andorra 1970 Angola 1975 Argentina 1947 On September 23, 1947, the Female Enrollment Act (number 13,010) was enacted in the government ofJuan Perón Armenia 1917 (by application of the Russian legislation) 1919 March (by adoption of its own legislation) On June 21 and 23, 1919, first direct parliamentary elections were held in Armenia under universal suffrage – every person over the age of 20 had the right to vote regardless of gender, ethnicity or religious beliefs. The 80-seat legislature contained three women deputies:Katarine Zalyan-Manukyan,Perchuhi Partizpanyan-BarseghyanandVarvara Sahakyan. Australia 1902 (Non-indigenous only) 1962 (full) Colony of South Australia1894,Colony of Western Australia1899, the remaining Australian states for non-indigenous women 1902. Indigenous Australian women (and men) weregranted the votein South Australia in 1895, but this right was revoked in 1902 for any Aboriginal person not already enrolled. Indigenous Australians were not given the right to vote in all states until 1962. Austria 1918 The Electoral Code was changed in December 1918.First election was in February 1919. Azerbaijan 1918 Azerbaijan was the first Muslim-majority country to enfranchise women. Bahamas 1960 Bahrain 2002 No elections were held in Bahrain between 1973 and 2002. Bangladesh 1971 (uponits independence) Barbados 1950 British Leeward Islands(Today:Antigua and Barbuda,British Virgin Islands,Montserrat,Saint Kitts and Nevis,Anguilla) 1951 British Windward Islands(Today:Grenada,St Lucia,St Vincent and the Grenadines,Dominica) 1951 Belarusian People's Republic 1919 Belgium 1919/1948 Was granted in the constitution in 1919, for communal voting. Suffrage for the provincial councils and the national parliament only came in 1948. British Honduras(Today:Belize) 1954 Dahomey(Today:Benin) 1956 Bermuda 1944 Bhutan 1953 Bolivia 1938/1952 Limited women's suffrage in 1938 (only for literate women and those with a certain level of income). On equal terms with men since 1952. Botswana 1965 Brazil 1932 Brunei 1959 Nationalelections in Bruneicurrently suspended. Both men and women have voting rights only for local elections. Kingdom of Bulgaria 1937/1944 Married women (and by default widowed women) gained the right to vote on January 18, 1937, in local elections, but could not run for office. Single women were excluded from voting. Full voting rights were bestowed by the communist regime in September 1944 and reaffirmed by an electoral law reform on June 15, 1945. Upper Volta(Today:Burkina Faso) 1958 Burma 1922 Burundi 1961 Kingdom of Cambodia 1955 British Cameroons(Today:Cameroon) 1946 Canada 1917–1919 for most of Canada; Prince Edward Island in 1922; Newfoundland in 1925; Quebec in 1940; 1960 for Aboriginal People without requiring them to give up their status as before To help win amandate for conscriptionduring World War I, the federalConservativegovernment ofRobert Bordengranted the vote in 1917 to war widows, women serving overseas, and the female relatives of men serving overseas. However, the same legislation, theWartime Elections Act,disenfranchised those who became naturalized Canadian citizens after 1902. Women over 21 who were "not alien-born" and who met certain property qualifications were allowed to vote in federal elections in 1918. Women first won the vote provincially in Manitoba, Saskatchewan, and Alberta in 1916; British Columbia and Ontario in 1917; Nova Scotia in 1918; New Brunswick in 1919 (women could not run for New Brunswick provincial office until 1934); Prince Edward Island in 1922; Newfoundland in 1925 (which did not join Confederation until 1949); and Quebec in 1940. Aboriginal men and women were not given the right to vote until 1960; previously, they could only vote if they gave up their treaty status. It was not until 1948, when Canada signed the UN's Universal Declaration of Human Rights, that it was forced to examine the issue of discrimination against Aboriginal people. Cape Verde 1975 (uponits independence) Cayman Islands 1957 Central African Republic 1986 Chad 1958 Chile 1949 From 1934 to 1949, women could vote in local elections at 25, while men could vote in all elections at 21. In both cases, literacy was required. China(PRC) 1949 In 1949, the People's Republic of China (PRC) incorporated equal rights for men and women intoConstitution of the People's Republic of China(PRC), referring to the earlierConstitution of the Republic of China(ROC) in 1947.Elections in China(PRC) are based on a hierarchical electoral system in which some representatives aredirectly electedand some areindirectly elected. Colombia 1954 Comoros 1956 Zaire(Today:Democratic Republic of the Congo) 1967 Congo, Republic of the 1963 Cook Islands 1893 Costa Rica 1949 Cuba 1934 Cyprus 1960 Czechoslovakia(Today:Czech Republic,Slovakia) 1920 The Czechoslovak Constitution adopted on 29 February 1920 guaranteed the universal vote for every citizen including women to every electable body. Kingdom of Denmark(Including theFaroe Islandsand, at that time,Iceland) 1908 at local elections, 1915 at national parliamentary elections Djibouti 1946 Dominican Republic 1942 East Timor 1976 Ecuador 1929/1967 Despite that Ecuador granted women suffrage in 1929, which was earlier than most independent countries in Latin America (except for Uruguay, which granted women suffrage in 1917), differences between men's and women's suffrage in Ecuador were only removed in 1967 (before 1967 women's vote was optional, while that of men was compulsory; since 1967 it is compulsory for both sexes). Egypt 1956 El Salvador 1939/1950 Women obtained in 1939 suffrage with restrictions requiring literacy and a higher age. All restrictions were lifted in 1950 allowing women to vote, but women obtained the right to stand for elections only in 1961. Equatorial Guinea 1963 Effectively aone-party stateunder theDemocratic Party of Equatorial Guineasince 1987;elections in Equatorial Guineaare not considered to be free or fair. Eritrea No voting There have not beenelections in Eritreasince its independence in 1993. Estonia 1917 Universal suffrage was declared by theRussian Provisional Government(in control of the then governorate of Estonia) on 15 March 1917 and applied in the elections of theConstituent Assembly.After becoming independent in 1918, Estonia continued its universal suffrage. Eswatini(Formerly:Swaziland) 1968 While there areelections in Eswatini,the country is anabsolute monarchyand themost recent general electionhad a very low turnout, causing some to call democracy in the country into question. Ethiopia(Then includingEritrea) 1955 Fiji 1963 Grand Duchy of Finland 1906 Women retained the right to vote whenFinlandgained its independence from Russia in 1917. France 1944 The law was enacted in 1944, but the first elections were in 1945. Gabon 1956 Gambia, The 1960 Democratic Republic of Georgia 1918 Germany 1918 Ghana 1954 Greece 1930(Local Elections, Literate Only),1952(Unconditional) Greenland 1948 Guatemala 1945/1965 Women could vote from 1945, but only if literate. Restrictions on women's suffrage were lifted in 1965. Guinea 1958 Guinea-Bissau 1977 Guyana 1953 Haiti 1950 Kingdom of Hawaii 1840–1852 Universal suffrage was established in 1840, which meant that women could vote. Opposition resulted in a specific denial of women's suffrage in the 1852 constitution. Honduras 1955 Hong Kong 1949 Hungarian Republic 1919 (partial) 1945 (full) After 1919 men could vote from the age of 24 while women only gained the right to vote from the age of 30. There were also educational and economical criteria set for both genders, but all criteria were higher for women. After 1945 both men and women gained universal suffrage from the age of 20. India(Then under British colonial rule) 1921 (BombayandMadras) 1929 (All provinces, including princely states) Indonesia 1937 (for Europeans only) 1945 (for all citizens, granted upon independence) Iran 1963 In 1945, during the one-year rule of the Azerbaijani Democratic Party, Iranian Azerbaijani women were allowed to vote and be elected. Iraq 1948 Ireland 1918 (partial) 1922 (full) From 1918, with the rest of the United Kingdom, women could vote at 30 with property qualifications or in university constituencies, while men could vote at 21 with no qualification. From separation in 1922, theIrish Free Stategave equal voting rights to men and women. Isle of Man 1881 Israel 1948 Women's suffrage was granted with thedeclaration of independence.But prior to that in the Jewish settlement in Palestine, suffrage was granted in 1920. Italy 1925 (partial), 1945 (full) Local elections in 1925. Full suffrage in 1945. Ivory Coast 1952 Jamaica 1944 Japan 1945 Jersey 1919 Restrictions on franchise applied to men and women until after Liberation in 1945. Jordan 1974 Kazakh SSR 1924 Kenya 1963 Kiribati 1967 Korea, North 1946 Korea, South 1948 (for both men & women) Suffrage for both men and women were given at same date, same year right after the first constitutional law had been announced. Up to 1910, it was Korean Empire with despotic monarchy, so no one had the suffrage, and from 1910 to 1945, Korea was a colony of Japan, so again no one had suffrage for the Japanese Empire. From 1945 to 1948, South part of Korea was ruled by United States Army Military Government in Korea, so still no one had any suffrage for the government. From the first constitutional law of Korea, Korea adopted egalitarianism, giving the suffrage for both men and women at the same time. Kuwait 2005 All voters must have been citizens of Kuwait for at least 20 years. Kyrgyz SSR 1918 Kingdom of Laos 1958 Latvia 1917 Lebanon 1952 In 1952, after a 30-year long battle for suffrage, the bill allowing Lebanese women to vote passed.In 1957, a requirement for women (but not men) to have elementary education before voting was dropped, as was voting being compulsory for men. Lesotho 1965 Liberia 1946 Kingdom of Libya 1963 (1951 local) Liechtenstein 1984 Lithuania 1918 Luxembourg 1919 Women gained the vote on May 15, 1919, through amendment of Article 52 of Luxembourg's constitution. Madagascar 1959 Malawi 1961 Federation of Malaya(Today:Malaysia) 1955 First general election for the Federal Legislative Council, two years before independence in 1957 Maldives 1932 Mali 1956 Malta 1947 Marshall Islands 1979 Mauritania 1961 Mauritius 1956 Mexico 1953 Micronesia, Federated States of 1979 Moldova 1929/1940 As part of theKingdom of Romania,women who met certain qualifications were allowed to vote in local elections, starting in 1929. After theConstitution of 1938,voting rights were extended to women for general elections by the Electoral Law 1939.In 1940, after the formation of theMoldavian SSR,equal voting rights were granted to men and women. Monaco 1962 Mongolian People's Republic 1924 Morocco 1963 People's Republic of Mozambique 1975 Namibia 1989 (upon its independence) At independence from South Africa. Nauru 1968 Nepal 1951 (upon gaining Democracy) Netherlands 1917 Women have been allowed to vote since 1919. Since 1917 women have been allowed to be voted into office. Netherlands Antilles(Today:Aruba,Curaçao,Sint Maarten,Caribbean Netherlands) 1949 New Zealand 1893 New Zealand was the first country to give women voting rights. Nicaragua 1955 Niger 1948 Nigeria 1958 Norway 1913 Oman 1994 While, technically,elections take place in Oman,this is only to elect a consultative assembly with no power, as Oman is anabsolute monarchy. Pakistan 1947 (upon its independence) In 1947, on its creation at thepartition of India,Pakistan granted full voting rights to men and women. Palau 1979 Palestine 1972 Women (and men) first voted in local elections in theWest Bankin 1972. Women (and men) first elected a Palestinian parliament in1996.However, the last general election was in2006;there was supposed to be another in 2014 but elections have been delayed indefinitely. Panama 1941/1946 Limited women's suffrage from 1941 (conditioned by level of education) equal women's suffrage from 1946. Papua New Guinea 1964 Paraguay 1961 Peru 1955 Philippines 1937 Filipino women voted ina 1937 plebiscitefor their right to vote; women first voted inlocal elections later that year. Pitcairn Islands 1838 Poland 1918 Portugal 1911/1931/1976 With restrictions in 1911, later made illegal again until 1931 when it was reinstated with restrictions,restrictions other than age requirements lifted in 1976. Puerto Rico 1929/1935 Limited suffrage was passed for women, restricted to those who were literate. In 1935 the legislature approved suffrage for all women. Qatar 1997 While required by the constitution,general electionshad been repeatedly delayed.Municipal elections have been held often. Romania 1929/1939/1946 Starting in 1929, women who met certain qualifications were allowed to vote in local elections. After theConstitution from 1938,the voting rights were extended to women for general elections by the Electoral Law 1939. Women could vote on equal terms with men, but both men and women had restrictions, and in practice the restrictions affected women more than men. In 1946, full equal voting rights were granted to men and women. Russian Republic 1917 On July 20, 1917, under theProvisional Government. Rwanda 1961 Saudi Arabia 2015 InDecember 2015,women were first allowed to vote and run for office. However, there are no nationalelections in Saudi Arabia.The country is anabsolute monarchy. Samoa 1990 Whileelections in Samoarestrict candidacy tomatai,there isuniversal suffrage. San Marino 1959 São Tomé and Príncipe 1975 Senegal 1945 Seychelles 1948 Sierra Leone 1961 In the 1790s, while Sierra Leone was still a colony, women voted in the elections. Singapore 1947 Solomon Islands 1974 Somalia 1956 South Africa 1930 (European and Asian women) 1994 (all women) Women of other races were enfranchised in 1994, at the same time as men of all races. Spain 1924/October 1, 19311977 Women briefly held the right to vote from 1924 to 1926, but an absence of elections mean they never had the opportunity to go to the polls until 1933, after earning the right to vote in the 1931 Constitution passed after the elections.The government fell after only two elections in which women could vote, and no one would vote again until after the death ofFrancisco Franco. Sri Lanka(Formerly:Ceylon) 1931 Sudan 1964 Suriname 1948 Sweden 1919 Switzerland 1971 at federal level, between 1959 and 1990 at local canton level Women obtained the right to vote in national elections in 1971.Women obtained the right to vote at localcantonlevel between 1959 (VaudandNeuchâtelin that year) and 1972, except for 1989 inAppenzell Ausserrhodenand 1990 inAppenzell Innerrhoden.See alsoWomen's suffrage in Switzerland. Syria 1949 Grand Duchy of Tuscany 1848 Taiwan 1947 In 1945, the island of Taiwan was returned from Japan to China. In 1947, women won the suffrage under theConstitution of the Republic of China.In 1949, the Government of the Republic of China (ROC) lost mainland China and moved to Taiwan. Tajik SSR 1924 Tanzania 1959 Thailand 1932 Togo 1945 Tonga 1960 Trinidad and Tobago 1925 Suffrage was granted for the first time in 1925 to either sex, to men over the age of 21 and women over the age of 30, as in the United Kingdom (the "Mother Country", since Trinidad and Tobago was still a colony at the time)In 1945, full suffrage was granted to women. Tunisia 1957 Turkey 1930 (for local elections), 1934 (for national elections) Turkmen SSR 1924 Tuvalu 1967 Uganda 1962 Ukraine 1917Ukrainian People's Republic,1918 (West Ukrainian People's Republic), 1919 (Ukrainian SSR) The Ukrainian People's Republic held аnelectionon January 9 [O.S.December 27] 1918. United Arab Emirates 2006 Elections in the United Arab Emirates occur on a national level. However, their democratic usefulness is disputed. United Kingdom 1918 (partial) 1928 (full) From 1918 to 1928, women could vote at 30 with property qualifications or as graduates of UK universities, while men could vote at 21 with no qualification. From 1928 women had equal suffrage with men. United States 1920 (nearly all) 1965 (legal protections) Before the ratification of theNineteenth Amendmentin 1920, individual states had passed legislation that allowed women to vote in different types of elections; some only allowed women to vote in school or municipal elections, some required women to own property if they wanted to vote, and some territories extended full suffrage to women, only to take it away once they became states.Many states allowed women to hold a few office positions before gaining the right to vote.Although legally entitled to vote, black people (including black women) were effectivelydenied voting rightsin numerous Southern states until 1965. United States Virgin Islands 1936 Beginning in 1936 women could vote; however, this vote, as with men, was limited to those who could prove they had an income of $300 per year or more. Uruguay 1917/1927/1932 Uruguay was the first country in all of the Americas – and one of the first in the world – to grant women fully equal civil rights and universal suffrage (in its Constitution of 1917), though this suffrage was first exercised in 1927, in the1927 Cerro Chato referendum,and was put into national law through a decree in 1932.The first national election in which women voted was the1938 Uruguayan general election. Uzbek SSR 1938 Vanuatu 1975 Vatican City No voting ThePope,elected by the all-maleCollege of Cardinalsthrough a secret ballot, is the leader of the Catholic Church, and exercises ex officio supreme legislative, executive, and judicial power over the State of the Vatican City. Venezuela 1946 (partial) Though there aredisputes as to the legitimacyofelections in Venezuela,they are ongoing at a national level. Vietnam 1946 1946 North Vietnamese legislative election North Yemen(Today:Yemen) 1970 South Yemen(Today:Yemen) 1967 Zambia 1962 (thenNorthern Rhodesia) Women's suffrage granted inNorthern Rhodesiain 1962. Southern Rhodesia(Today:Zimbabwe) 1919 (whites only) 1978 (full) Yugoslavia(Today:Serbia,Montenegro,Croatia,Slovenia,Bosnia and Herzegovina,Kosovo,North Macedonia) 1945

By continent

Africa

Egypt

The struggle for women's suffrage in Egypt first sparked from the nationalist1919 Revolutionin which women of all classes took to the streets in protest against the British occupation. The struggle was led by severalEgyptian women's rights pioneersin the first half of the 20th century through protest, journalism, and lobbying, through women's organizations, primarily theEgyptian Feminist Union(EFU). PresidentGamal Abdel-Nassersupported women's suffrage in 1956 after they were denied the vote under the British occupation.

Liberia

In 1920, the women's movement organized in theNational Liberian Women's Social and Political Movement,who campaigned without success for women's suffrage, followed by theLiberia Women's Leagueand theLiberian Women's Social and Political Movement,and in 1946, limited suffrage was finally introduced for women of the privileged Libero-American elite, and expanded to universal women's suffrage in 1951.

Sierra Leone

One of the first occasions when women were able to vote was in the elections of theNova Scotian settlersatFreetown.In the 1792 elections, all heads of household could vote and one-third were ethnic African women. Women won the right to vote in Sierra Leone in 1930.

South Africa

The campaign for women's suffrage was conducted largely by theWomen's Enfranchisement Association of the Union,which was founded in 1911.

The franchise was extended towhitewomen 21 years or older by theWomen's Enfranchisement Act, 1930.The first general election at which women could vote was the1933 election.At that electionLeila Reitz(wife ofDeneys Reitz) was elected as the first female MP, representingParktownfor theSouth African Party.The limited voting rights available to non-white men in theCape ProvinceandNatal(Transvaaland theOrange Free Statepractically denied all non-whites the right to vote, and had also done so to white foreign nationals when independent in the 1800s) were not extended to women, and were themselves progressively eliminated between 1936 and 1968.

The right to vote for the Transkei Legislative Assembly, established in 1963 for theTranskeibantustan,was granted to all adult citizens of the Transkei, including women. Similar provision was made for the Legislative Assemblies created for other bantustans. All adultcolouredcitizens were eligible to vote for theColoured Persons Representative Council,which was established in 1968 with limited legislative powers; the council was however abolished in 1980. Similarly, all adultIndiancitizens were eligible to vote for theSouth African Indian Councilin 1981. In 1984 theTricameral Parliamentwas established, and the right to vote for theHouse of RepresentativesandHouse of Delegateswas granted to all adult Coloured and Indian citizens, respectively.

In 1994 the bantustans and the Tricameral Parliament were abolished and the right to vote for theNational Assemblywas granted to all adult citizens.

Southern Rhodesia

Southern Rhodesian white women won the vote in 1919 andEthel Tawse Jollie(1875–1950) was elected to the Southern Rhodesia legislature 1920–1928, the first woman to sit in any national Commonwealth Parliament outside Westminster. The influx of women settlers from Britain proved a decisive factor in the 1922 referendum that rejected annexation by a South Africa increasingly under the sway of traditionalistAfrikaner Nationalistsin favor of Rhodesian Home Rule or "responsible government". Black Rhodesian males qualified for the vote in 1923 (based only upon property, assets, income, and literacy). It is unclear when the first black woman qualified for the vote.

Asia

Afghanistan

Women voting inKabulat thefirst presidential election (October 2004)in Afghan history

Women were granted suffrage in 1964,and have been able to vote inAfghanistansince 1965 (except during Taliban rule, 1996–2001, when no elections were held).As of 2009,women have been casting fewer ballots in part due to being unaware of their voting rights.In the 2014 election, Afghanistan's elected president pledged to bring women equal rights.

Bangladesh

Bangladeshwas (mostly) the province of Bengal inBritish Indiauntil 1947 when it became part ofPakistan.It became an independent nation in 1971. Women have had equal suffrage since 1947, and they have reserved seats in parliament. Bangladesh is notable in that since 1991, two women, namelySheikh HasinaandBegum Khaleda Zia,have served terms as the country's Prime Minister continuously. Women have traditionally played a minimal role in politics beyond the anomaly of the two leaders; few used to run against men; few have been ministers. Recently, however, women have become more active in politics, with several prominent ministerial posts given to women and women participating in national, district and municipal elections against men and winning on several occasions.ChoudhuryandHasanuzzamanargue that the strong patriarchal traditions of Bangladesh explain why women are so reluctant to stand up in politics.

China

The fight for women's suffrage inChinawas organized whenTang Qunyingfounded the women's suffrage organizationNüzi chanzheng tongmenghui,to ensure that women's suffrage would be included in the first Constitution drafted after the abolition of theChinese monarchyin 1911–1912.A short but intense period of campaigning was ended with failure in 1914.

In the following period, local governments in China introduced women's suffrage in their own territories, such asHunanandGuangdongin 1921 andSichuanin 1923.

Women's suffrage was included by theKuomintangGovernment in the Constitution of 1936,but because of the war, the reform could not be enacted until after the war and was finally introduced in 1947.

India

Main article:Women's suffrage in India

Women in India were allowed to vote right from the first general elections after the independence of India in 1947 unlike during the British rule who resisted allowing women to vote.TheWomen's Indian Association(WIA) was founded in 1917. It sought votes for women and the right to hold legislative office on the same basis as men. These positions were endorsed by the main political groupings, theIndian National Congress.British andIndian feministscombined in 1918 to publish a magazineStri Dharmathat featured international news from a feminist perspective.In 1919 in theMontagu–Chelmsford Reforms,the British set up provincial legislatures which had the power to grant women's suffrage. Madras in 1921 granted votes to wealthy and educated women, under the same terms that applied to men. The other provinces followed, but not the princely states (which did not have votes for men either, being monarchies).InBengalprovince, the provincial assembly rejected it in 1921 but Southard shows an intense campaign produced victory in 1921. Success in Bengal depended on middle class Indian women, who emerged from a fast-growing urban elite. The women leaders in Bengal linked their crusade to a moderate nationalist agenda, by showing how they could participate more fully in nation-building by having voting power. They carefully avoided attacking traditional gender roles by arguing that traditions could coexist with political modernization.

Whereas wealthy and educated women in Madras were granted voting right in 1921, in Punjab theSikhsgranted women equal voting rights in 1925, irrespective of their educational qualifications or being wealthy or poor. This happened when the Gurdwara Act of 1925 was approved. The original draft of the Gurdwara Act sent by the British to theSharomani Gurdwara Prabhandak Committee(SGPC) did not include Sikh women, but the Sikhs inserted the clause without the women having to ask for it. Equality of women with men is enshrined in theGuru Granth Sahib,thesacred scriptureof the Sikh faith.

In theGovernment of India Act 1935theBritish Rajset up a system of separate electorates and separate seats for women. Most women's leaders opposed segregated electorates and demanded adult franchise. In 1931 the Congress promised universal adult franchise when it came to power. It enacted equal voting rights for both men and women in 1947.

Indonesia

Indonesiagranted women voting rights for municipal councils in 1905. Only men who could read and write could vote, which excluded many non-European males. At the time, theliteracy ratefor males was 11% and for females 2%. The main group that pressed for women's suffrage in Indonesia was the DutchVereeninging voor Vrouwenkiesrecht(VVV-Women's Suffrage Association), founded in theNetherlandsin 1894. VVV tried to attract Indonesian members, but had very limited success because the leaders of the organization had little skill in relating to even the educated class of Indonesians. When they eventually did connect somewhat with women, they failed to sympathize with them and ended up alienating many well-educated Indonesians. In 1918, the first national representative body, theVolksraad,was formed which still excluded women from voting. Indigenous women did not organize until thePerikatan Perempuan Indonesia(PPI, Indonesian Women Association) in 1928. In 1935, the colonial administration used its power of nomination to appoint a European woman to the Volksraad. In 1938, women gained the right to be elected to urban representative institutions, which led to some Indonesian and European women entering municipal councils. Eventually, only European women and municipal councils could vote,excluding all other women andlocal councils.In September 1941, the Volksraad extended the vote to women of all races. Finally, in November 1941, the right to vote for municipal councils was granted to all women on a similar basis to men (subject to property and educational qualifications).

Iran

See also:1963 Iranian referendum

1963 Iranian legislative election

Women's suffrage had been expressly excluded in the Iranian Constitution of 1906 and a women's rights movement had been organized, which supported women's suffrage.

In 1942, theWomen’s party of Iran(Ḥezb-e zanān-e Īrān) was founded to work to introduce the reform, and in 1944, the women's group of theTudeh Party of Iran,theDemocratic Society of Women(Jāmeʿa-ye demokrāt-e zanān) put forward a suggestion of women's suffrage in the Parliament, which was however blocked by the Islamic conservatives.In 1956, a new campaign for women's suffrage was launched by theNew Path Society(Jamʿīyat-e rāh-e now), the Association of Women Lawyers (Anjoman-e zanān-e ḥoqūqdān) and the League of Women Supporters of Human Rights (Jamʿīyat-e zanān-e ṭarafdār-e ḥoqūq-e bašar).

After this, the reform was actively supported by the Shah and included as a part of his modernization program, theWhite Revolution.Areferendum in January 1963overwhelmingly approved by voters gave women the right to vote, a right previously denied to them under theIranian Constitution of 1906pursuant to Chapter 2, Article 3.

Israel

Women have had full suffrage since theestablishmentof theState of Israelin 1948.

The first (and as of 2023, the only) woman to be electedPrime Minister of IsraelwasGolda Meirin 1969.

Japan

Women's Rights meeting in Tokyo, to push for women's suffrage

Main article:Women's suffrage in Japan

Although women were allowed to vote in some prefectures in 1880, women's suffrage was enacted at a national level in 1945 with the end of the world war.

The campaign for women's suffrage started in 1923, when the women's umbrella organizationTokyo Rengo Fujinkaiwas founded and created several sub groups to address different women's issues, one of whom,Fusen Kakutoku Domei(FKD), was to work for the introduction of women's suffrage and political rights.The campaign was gradually reduced due to difficulties in the 1930s fascist era; the FKD was banned after the outbreak of the Second Sino-Japanese war, and women's suffrage could not be introduced until it was incorporated in the new constitution after the war.

Korea

South Korean people, including South Korean women, were universally granted the vote in 1948.

Kuwait

Main article:Women's suffrage in Kuwait

When voting was first introduced in Kuwait in 1985, Kuwaiti women had theright to vote.The right was later removed. In May 2005, the Kuwaiti parliament re-granted female suffrage.

Lebanon

Main article:Women in Lebanon § Women's suffrage

The women's movement organized in Lebanon with the creation of theSyrian-Lebanese Women's Unionin 1924; it split into the Women's Union underIbtihaj Qaddouraand theLebanese Women Solidarity AssociationunderLaure Thabetin 1946. The women's movement united again when the two biggest women's organizations, theLebanese Women's Unionand theChristian Women's Solidarity Associationcreated theLebanese Council of Womenin 1952 to campaign for women's suffrage, a task that finally succeeded, after an intense campaign.

Pakistan

Pakistanwas part ofBritish Rajuntil 1947, when itbecame independent.Women received full suffrage in 1947.Muslim womenleaders from all classes actively supported the Pakistan movement in the mid-1940s. Their movement was led by wives and other relatives of leading politicians. Women were sometimes organized into large-scale public demonstrations. In November 1988,Benazir Bhuttobecame the first Muslim woman to be elected as prime minister of a Muslim country.

Philippines

Philippine PresidentManuel L. Quezonsigning the Women's Suffrage Bill following the 1937 plebiscite

The Philippines was one of the first countries in Asia to grant women the right to vote. The women's movement organized in the early 20th-century in organizations such as theAsociacion Feminista Filipina(1904) theSociety for the Advancement of Women(SAW) and theAsociaction Feminist Ilonga,who campaigned for women's suffrage and other rights for gender equality. Suffrage forFilipinaswas achieved following an all-female,special plebisciteheld on April 30, 1937. 447,725 – some ninety percent – voted in favour of women's suffrage against 44,307 who voted no. In compliance with the1935 Constitution,theNational Assemblypassed a law which extended the right of suffrage to women, which remains to this day.

Saudi Arabia

In late September 2011,KingAbdullah bin Abdulaziz al-Sauddeclared that women would be able to vote and run for officestarting in 2015.That applies to the municipal councils, which are the kingdom's only semi-elected bodies. Half of the seats on municipal councils are elective, and the councils have few powers.The council elections have been held since 2005 (the first time they were held before that was the 1960s).Saudi women did first vote and first run for office in December 2015, for those councils.Salma bint Hizab al-Oteibibecame the first elected female politician in Saudi Arabia in December 2015, when she won a seat on the council in Madrakah in Mecca province.In all, the December 2015 election in Saudi Arabia resulted in twenty women being elected to municipal councils.

The king declared in 2011 that women would be eligible to be appointed to theShura Council,an unelected body that issues advisory opinions on national policy.'"This is great news," said Saudi writer and women's rights activistWajeha al-Huwaider."Women's voices will finally be heard. Now it is time to remove other barriers like not allowingwomen to drivecars and not being able to function, to live a normal life without male guardians."'Robert Lacey,author of two books about the kingdom, said, "This is the first positive, progressive speech out of the government since theArab Spring.... First the warnings, then the payments, now the beginnings of solid reform. "The king made the announcement in a five-minute speech to the Shura Council.In January 2013,King Abdullahissued two royal decrees, granting women thirty seats on the council, and stating that women must always hold at least a fifth of the seats on the council.According to the decrees, the female council members must be "committed to Islamic Shariah disciplines without any violations" and be "restrained by the religious veil".The decrees also said that the female council members would be entering the council building from special gates, sit in seats reserved for women and pray in special worshipping places.Earlier, officials said that a screen would separate genders and an internal communications network would allow men and women to communicate.Women first joined the council in 2013, holding a total of thirty seats.There are two Saudi royal women among these thirty female members of the assembly,Sara bint Faisal Al SaudandMoudi bint Khalid Al Saud.Furthermore, in 2013 three women were named as deputy chairpersons of three committees: Thurayya Obeid was named deputy chairwoman of the human rights and petitions committee, Zainab Abu Talib, deputy chairwoman of the information and cultural committee, and Lubna Al Ansari, deputy chairwoman of the health affairs and environment committee.

Sri Lanka

Main article:Women's suffrage in Sri Lanka

In 1931,Sri Lanka(at that time Ceylon) became one of the first Asian countries to allow voting rights to women over the age of 21 without any restrictions. Since then, women have enjoyed a significant presence in the Sri Lankan political arena.

The women's movement organized on Sri Lanka under theCeylon Women's Unionin 1904, and from 1925, theMallika Kulangana Samitiyaand then theWomen's Franchise Union(WFU) campaigned successfully for the introduction of women's suffrage, which was achieved in 1931.

The zenith of this favourable condition to women has been the 1960 July General Elections, in which Ceylon elected the world's first female prime minister,Sirimavo Bandaranaike.She became the world's first democratically elected female head of government. Her daughter,Chandrika Kumaratungaalso became the Prime Minister later in 1994, and the same year she was elected as theExecutive presidentof Sri Lanka, making her the fourth woman in the world to be elected president, and the first female executive president.

Thailand

The Ministry of Interior's Local Administrative Act of May 1897 (Phraraachabanyat 1897 [BE 2440]) granted municipal suffrage in the election of village leader to all villagers “whose house or houseboat was located in that village,” and explicitly included women voters who met the qualifications. This was a part of the far-reaching administrative reforms enacted by KingChulalongkorn(r. 1868–1919), in his efforts to protect Thai sovereignty.

In the new constitution introduced after theSiamese revolution of 1932,which transformed Siam from an absolute monarchy to a parliamentary constitutional monarchy, women were granted the right to vote and run for office.This reform was enacted without any prior activism in favor of women's suffrage and was followed by a number of reforms in women's rights, and it has been suggested that the reform was part of an effort byPridi Bhanomyongto put Thailand on equal political terms with modern Western powers and establish diplomatic recognition by those as a modern nation.The new right was used for the first time in 1933, and the first female MPs were elected in 1949.

Europe

Savka Dabčević-Kučar,Croatian Springparticipant; Europe's first female prime minister

In Europe, the last two countries to enact women's suffrage wereSwitzerlandandLiechtenstein.In Switzerland, women gained theright to votein federalelectionsin 1971;but in the canton ofAppenzell Innerrhodenwomen obtained the right to vote on local issues only in 1991, when the canton was forced to do so by theFederal Supreme Court of Switzerland.In Liechtenstein, women were given the right to vote by thewomen's suffrage referendum of 1984.Three prior referendums held in1968,1971and1973had failed to secure women's right to vote.

Albania

Albania introduced a limited and conditional form of women's suffrage in 1920, and subsequently provided full voting rights in 1945.

Andorra

The Principality of Andorra introduced women's suffrage in 1970 (third last in Europa), though Andorra did not have a democratic constitution until 1993.

In 1969, 3708 signatures demanding women's suffrage and eligibility was presented to the Andorra Council Parliament. In April 1970, women's suffrage was introduced after a vote with 10 votes for and eight against, while however eligibility was voted down.Women's eligibility was introduced on 5 September 1973.The first woman became MP in 1984.

Austria

Main article:Women's suffrage in Austria

After the breakdown of theHabsburg monarchyin 1918,Austriagranted the general, equal, direct and secret right to vote to all citizens, regardless of sex, through the change of the electoral code in December 1918.The first elections in which women participated were theFebruary 1919 Constituent Assembly elections.

Azerbaijan

Main article:Women in Azerbaijan § Voting Rights

Universal voting rights were recognized in Azerbaijan in 1918 by theAzerbaijan Democratic Republic.Thus, making Azerbaijan the first Muslim-majority country to enfranchise women.This early commitment to women's rights was part of a broader movement towards secularization and modernization in the country.

Belgium

Jane Brigode,Belgian suffragist,c. 1910

A revision of the constitution in October 1921 (it changed art. 47 of theConstitution of Belgium of 1831) introduced the general right to vote according to the "one man, one vote" principle. Art. 47 allowed widows of World War I to vote at the national level as well.The introduction of women's suffrage was already put onto the agenda at the time, by means of including an article in the constitution that allowed approval of women's suffrage byspecial law(meaning it needed a 2/3 majority to pass).Belgian socialists opposed the women's suffrage, fearing their conservative leanings and their "domination" by the clergy.This happened on March 27, 1948. In Belgium, voting is compulsory.

Bulgaria

Bulgaria left Ottoman rule in 1878. Although the first adopted constitution, theTarnovo Constitution(1879), gave women equal election rights, in fact women were disenfranchised, not allowed to vote and to be elected. TheBulgarian Women's Unionwas an umbrella organization of the 27 local women's organisations that had been established in Bulgaria since 1878. It was founded as a reply to the limitations of women's education and access to university studies in the 1890s, with the goal to further women's intellectual development and participation, arranged national congresses and usedZhenski glasas its organ. However, they had limited success, and women were allowed to vote and to be elected only after whenCommunist rulewas established.

Croatia

Main article:Women in Croatia § Legal status

Czech Republic

In the formerBohemia,taxpaying women and women in "learned profession[s]" were allowed to vote by proxy and made eligible to the legislative body in 1864.The first Czech female MP was elected to the Diet of Bohemia in 1912. The Declaration of Independence of the Czechoslovak Nation from October 18, 1918, declared that "our democracy shall rest on universal suffrage. Women shall be placed on equal footing with men, politically, socially, and culturally," and women were appointed to the Revolutionary National Assembly (parliament) on November 13, 1918. On June 15, 1919, women voted in local elections for the first time. Women were guaranteed equal voting rights by theconstitution of the Czechoslovak Republicin February 1920 and were able to vote for the parliament for the first time inApril 1920.

Cyprus

Cyprus had no organized women's movement until the mid-20th century and no activism in favor of women's suffrage, which was introduced in the new constitution of 1961 after the liberation from Britain, simply because women's suffrage had at that point came to be regarded as a given thing in international democratic standard.

Denmark

See also:Women in Denmark § Women's suffrage

Line luplau seen in the foreground on her daughterMarie Luplau's large group portrait paintingFrom the Early Days of the Fight for Women's Suffrage(1897)

In Denmark, theDanish Women's Society(DK) debated, and informally supported, women's suffrage from 1884, but it did not support it publicly until in 1887, when it supported the suggestion of the parliamentarianFredrik Bajerto grant women municipal suffrage.In 1886, in response to the perceived overcautious attitude of DK in the question of women suffrage,Matilde Bajerfounded theKvindelig Fremskridtsforening(or KF, 1886–1904) to deal exclusively with the right to suffrage, both in municipal and national elections, and it 1887, the Danish women publicly demanded the right for women's suffrage for the first time through the KF. However, as the KF was very much involved with worker's rights and pacifist activity, the question of women's suffrage was in fact not given full attention, which led to the establishment of the strictly women's suffrage movementKvindevalgretsforeningen(1889–1897).In 1890, the KF and the Kvindevalgretsforeningen united with five women's trade worker's unions to found theDe samlede Kvindeforeninger,and through this form, an active women's suffrage campaign was arranged through agitation and demonstration. However, after having been met by compact resistance, the Danish suffrage movement almost discontinued with the dissolution of the De samlede Kvindeforeninger in 1893.

In 1898, anumbrella organization,theDanske Kvindeforeningers Valgretsforbundor DKV was founded and became a part of theInternational Woman Suffrage Alliance(IWSA).In 1907, theLandsforbundet for Kvinders Valgret(LKV) was founded byElna Munch,Johanne RambuschandMarie Hjelmerin reply to what they considered to be the much too careful attitude of theDanish Women's Society.The LKV originated from a local suffrage association in Copenhagen, and like its rival DKV, it successfully organized other such local associations nationally.

Women won the right to vote in municipal elections on April 20, 1908. However it was not until June 5, 1915 that they were allowed to vote inRigsdagelections.

Estonia

Estonia gained its independence in 1918 with theEstonian War of Independence.However, the first official elections were held in 1917. These were the elections of temporary council (i.e. Maapäev), which ruled Estonia from 1917 to 1919. Since then, women have had the right to vote.

The parliament elections were held in 1920. After the elections, two women got into the parliament – history teacherEmma Assonand journalistAlma Ostra-Oinas.Estonian parliament is calledRiigikoguand during the First Republic of Estonia it used to have 100 seats.

Finland

13 of the total of 19 female MPs, who were the first female MPs in the world, elected inFinland's parliamentary elections in 1907

The area that in 1809 becameFinlandhad been a group of integral provinces of theKingdom of Swedenfor over 600 years. Thus, women in Finland were allowed to vote during the SwedishAge of Liberty(1718–1772), during which conditional suffrage was granted to tax-paying female members ofguilds.However, this right was controversial. InVaasa,there was opposition against women participating in the town hall discussing political issues, as this was not seen as their right place, and women's suffrage appears to have been opposed in practice in some parts of the realm: whenAnna Elisabeth Baerand two other women petitioned to vote in Turku in 1771, they were not allowed to do so by town officials.

The predecessor state of modernFinland,theGrand Duchy of Finland,was part of the Russian Empire from 1809 to 1917 and enjoyed a high degree ofautonomy.In 1863, taxpaying women were granted municipal suffrage in the countryside, and in 1872, the same reform was implemented in the cities. The issue of women's suffrage was first raised by the women's movement when it organized in theFinnish Women's Association(1884), and the first organization exclusively devoted to the issue of suffrage wasNaisasialiitto Unioni(1892).

In 1906, Finland became the first province in the world to implement racially-equal women's suffrage, unlike Australia in 1902. Finland also elected the world's first female members of parliamentthe following year.In 1907, the first general election in Finland that had been open to women took place. Nineteen women were elected which was less than 10% of the total members of parliament. The successful women includedLucina Hagman,Miina Sillanpää,Anni Huotari,Hilja Pärssinen,Hedvig Gebhard,Ida Aalle,Mimmi Kanervo,Eveliina Ala-Kulju,Hilda Käkikoski,Liisi Kivioja,Sandra Lehtinen,Dagmar Neovius,Maria Raunio,Alexandra Gripenberg,Iida Vemmelpuu,Maria Laine,Jenny NuotioandHilma Räsänen.Many had expected more. A few women realised that the women of Finland needed to seize this opportunity and organisation and education would be required. Newly elected MPs Lucina Hagman andMaikki Fribergtogether withOlga Oinola,Aldyth Hultin,Mathilda von Troil,Ellinor Ingman-Ivalo,Sofia Streng andOlga Österbergfounded theFinnish Women's Association's first branch in Helsinki.Miina Sillanpääbecame Finland's first female government minister in 1926.

France

The April 21, 1944 ordinance of theFrench Committee of National Liberation,confirmed in October 1944 by theFrench provisional government,extended the suffrage to French women.The first elections with female participation were the municipal elections of April 29, 1945 and theparliamentary electionsof October 21, 1945. "IndigenousMuslim"women inFrench Algeriaalso known as Colonial Algeria, had to wait until a July 3, 1958, decree.Although several countries had started extending suffrage to women from the end of the 19th century, France was one of the last countries to do so in Europe. In fact, theNapoleonic Codedeclares the legal and political incapacity of women, which blocked attempts to give women political rights.First feminist claims started emerging during the French Revolution in 1789.Condorcetexpressed his support for women's right to vote in an article published inJournal de la Société de 1789,but his project failed.AfterWorld War I,French women continued demanding political rights, and despite theChamber of Deputiesbeing in favor, theSenatecontinuously refused to analyze the law proposal.Socialists, and more generally, the political left repeatedly opposed the right to vote for women because they feared their more conservative preferences and their "domination" by priests.It was only afterWorld War IIthat women were granted political rights.

Georgia

Upon its declaration of independence on May 26, 1918, in the aftermath of theRussian Revolution,theDemocratic Republic of Georgiaextended suffrage to its female citizens. The women of Georgia first exercised their right to vote in the1919 legislative election.

Germany

Women were granted the right to vote and be elected from November 12, 1918. TheWeimar Constitutionestablished a "new" Germany after theend of World War Iand extended the right to vote to all citizens above the age of 20, with some exceptions.

Greece

Greece haduniversal suffragesince its independence in 1832, but this suffrage excluded women. The first proposal to give Greek women the right to vote was made on May 19, 1922, by a member of parliament, supported by then Prime MinisterDimitrios Gounaris,during a constitutional convention.The proposal garnered a narrow majority of those present when it was first proposed, but failed to get the broad 80% support needed to add it to the constitution.In 1925 consultations began again, and a law was passed allowing women the right to vote in local elections, provided they were 30 years of age and had attended at least primary education.The law remained unenforced, untilfeministmovements within the civil service lobbied the government to enforce it in December 1927 and March 1929.Women were allowed to vote on a local level for the first time in theThessalonikilocal elections, on December 14, 1930, where 240 women exercised their right to do so.Women's turnout remained low, at only around 15,000 in the national local elections of 1934, despite women being a narrow majority of the population of 6.8 million.Women could not stand for election, despite a proposal made by Interior ministerIoannis Rallis,which was contested in the courts; the courts ruled that the law only gave women "a limited franchise" and struck down any lists where women were listed as candidates for local councils.Misogynywas rampant in that era;Emmanuel Rhoidesis quoted as having said that "two professions are fit for women: housewife and prostitute". Another misogynistic "argument" employed against women's right to vote was that "during menstruation women are loony and in a frantic psychological state, and since they may be menstruating at the time of the elections, they can't vote".

On a national level women over 18 voted for the first time in April 1944 for theNational Council,a legislative body set up by theNational Liberation Frontresistance movement.Ultimately, women won the legal right to vote and run for office on May 28, 1952.Eleni Skoura,again fromThessaloniki,became the first woman elected to theHellenic Parliamentin 1953, with the conservativeGreek Rally,when she won a by-election against another female opponent.Women were finally able to participate in the1956 election,with two more women becoming members of parliament;Lina Tsaldari,wife of former Prime MinisterPanagis Tsaldaris,won the most votes of any candidate in the country and became the first female minister in Greece under the conservativeNational Radical Uniongovernment ofKonstantinos Karamanlis.

No woman has been electedPrime Minister of Greece,butVassiliki Thanou-Christophilouserved as the country's first female prime minister, heading acaretaker government,between August 27 and September 21, 2015. The first woman to lead a major political party wasAleka Papariga,who served as General Secretary of theCommunist Party of Greecefrom 1991 to 2013.

Hungary

In Hungary, although it was already planned in 1818,the first occasion when women could vote was the elections held in January 1920.

Iceland

Iceland was underDanishrule until 1944. Icelandic women acquired full voting rights along with Danish women in 1915.

Ireland

From 1918,with the rest of the United Kingdom, women in Ireland could vote at age 30 with property qualifications or in university constituencies, while men could vote at age 21 with no qualification. From separation in 1922, theIrish Free Stategaveequal voting rightsto men and women. [ "All citizens of the Irish Free State (Saorstát Eireann) without distinction of sex, who have reached the age of twenty-one years and who comply with the provisions of the prevailing electoral laws, shall have the right to vote for members of Dáil Eireann, and to take part in the Referendum and Initiative." ]Promises of equal rights from the Proclamation were embraced in the Constitution in 1922, the year Irish women achieved full voting rights. However, over the next ten years, laws were introduced that eliminated women's rights from serving on juries, working after marriage, and working in industry. The 1937 Constitution and TaoiseachÉamon de Valera’s conservative leadership further stripped women of their previously granted rights.As well, though the 1937 Constitution guarantees women the right to vote and to nationality and citizenship on an equal basis with men, it also contains a provision, Article 41.2, which states:

1° [...] the State recognises that by her life within the home, woman gives to the State a support without which the common good cannot be achieved. 2° The State shall, therefore, endeavour to ensure that mothers shall not be obliged by economic necessity to engage in labour to the neglect of their duties in the home.

Isle of Man

In 1881, The Isle of Man (in the British Isles but not part of the United Kingdom) passed a law giving the vote to single and widowed women who passed a property qualification. This was to vote in elections for the House of Keys, in the Island's parliament, Tynwald. This was extended to universal suffrage for men and women in 1919.

Italy

In Italy, women's suffrage was not introduced followingWorld War I,but upheld bySocialistandFascistactivists and partly introduced on a local or municipal level byBenito Mussolini's government in 1925.In April 1945, the provisional government led by theItalian Resistancedecreed the universal enfranchisement of women in Italy, allowing for the immediate appointment of women to public office, of which the first was Elena Fischli Dreher.In the1946 election,all Italians simultaneously voted for the Constituent Assembly and fora referendumabout keeping Italy amonarchyor creating arepublicinstead. Elections were not held in theJulian MarchandSouth Tyrolbecause they were underAlliedoccupation.

The new version ofarticle 51 Constitutionrecognizes equal opportunities in electoral lists.

Liechtenstein

See alsoWomen's suffrage in Liechtenstein

InLiechtenstein,women's suffrage was granted viareferendum in 1984.

Luxembourg

In Luxembourg,Marguerite Thomas-Clementspoke in favour of women suffrage in public debate through articles in the press in 1917–19; however, there was never any organized women suffrage movement in Luxembourg, as women suffrage was included without debate in the new democratic constitution of 1919.

Malta

Malta was a British colony, but when women's suffrage was finally introduced in Great Britain in 1918, this had not been included in the 1921 Constitution on Malta, when Malta was given its own parliament, although theLabour Partydid support the reform. In 1931,Mabel Strickland,assistant secretary of Constitution Party, delivered a petition signed by 428 to the Royal Commission on Maltese Affairs requesting women's suffrage without success.

However, there had been no organized movement for women's suffrage on Malta. In 1944 theWomen of Malta Associationwas founded byJosephine Burns de BonoandHelen Buhagiar.The purpose was to work for the inclusion of women's suffrage in the new Malta constitution, which was to be introduced in 1947 and which was at that time prepared in parliament.The Women of Malta Association was officially registered as a labor union, in order to give its representatives the right to speak in parliament. The Catholic church as well as theNationalist Partyopposed women's suffrage with the argument that suffrage would be an unnecessary burden for women who had family and household to occupy them.The Labour Party as well as the labour movement in general supported the reform.An argument was that women paid taxes and should therefore also vote to decide what to do with them. Women's suffrage was approved with the votes 145 to 137. However, this did not include women's right to be elected to political office, and the Women of Malta Association therefore continued the campaign to include also this right. The debate continued with the same supporters and opponents, and the same arguments for and against, until this right was approved as well.

Women's suffrage and right to be elected to political office were included in the MacMichael Constitution, which was finally introduced on September 5, 1947. A politician at the time commented that the reform had been possible only because of women's participation in the war effort during theWorld War II.

Monaco

Monaco introduced women's suffrage in 1962, as the fourth last in Europe. In Monaco, Women's suffrage was not introduced after a long campaign – although supported by theUnion of Monegasque Women,itself only founded in 1958– but was introduced as a part of the new Constitution, alongside Parliamentarism, an independent court system and a number of other legal and political reforms.

Netherlands

Wilhelmina Drucker,a Dutch pioneer for women's rights, is portrayed byTruus Claesin 1917 on the occasion of her seventieth birthday.

Women were granted the right to vote in theNetherlandson August 9, 1919.In 1917, a constitutional reform already allowed women to be electable. However, even though women's right to vote was approved in 1919, this only took effect from January 1, 1920.

The women's suffrage movement in the Netherlands was led by three women:Aletta Jacobs,Wilhelmina DruckerandAnnette Versluys-Poelman.In 1889, Wilhelmina Drucker founded a women's movement calledVrije Vrouwen Vereeniging(Free Women's Union) and it was from this movement that the campaign for women's suffrage in the Netherlands emerged. This movement got a lot of support from other countries, especially from the women's suffrage movement in England. In 1906 the movement wrote an open letter to the Queen pleading for women's suffrage. When this letter was rejected, in spite of popular support, the movement organised several demonstrations and protests in favor of women's suffrage. This movement was of great significance for women's suffrage in the Netherlands.

Norway

The first Norwegian woman voter casts her ballot in the 1910 municipal election.

Liberal politicianGina Krogwas the leading campaigner for women's suffrage in Norway from the 1880s. She founded theNorwegian Association for Women's Rightsand theNational Association for Women's Suffrageto promote this cause. Members of these organisations were politically well-connected and well organised and in a few years gradually succeeded in obtaining equal rights for women. Middle-class women won the right to vote in municipal elections in 1901 and parliamentary elections in 1907. Universal suffrage for women in municipal elections was introduced in 1910, and in 1913 a motion on universal suffrage for women was adopted unanimously by theNorwegian parliament(Stortinget).Norway thus became the first independent country to introduce women's suffrage.

Poland

Regaining independence in 1918 following the 123-year period of partition and foreign rule,Polandimmediately granted women the right to vote and be elected as of November 28, 1918.

The first women elected to theSejmin 1919 were:Gabriela Balicka,Jadwiga Dziubińska,Irena Kosmowska,Maria Moczydłowska,Zofia Moraczewska,Anna Piasecka,Zofia Sokolnicka,andFranciszka Wilczkowiakowa.

Portugal

Carolina Beatriz Ângelowas the first Portuguese woman to vote, in theConstituent National Assembly election of 1911,taking advantage of aloopholein the country's electoral law.

In 1931, during theEstado Novoregime, women were allowed to vote for the first time, but only if they had a high school oruniversity degree,while men had only to be able to read and write. In 1946 a new electoral law enlarged the possibility of female vote, but still with some differences regarding men. A law from 1968 claimed to establish "equality ofpolitical rightsfor men and women ", but a few electoral rights were reserved for men. After theCarnation Revolution,women were granted full and equal electoral rights in 1976.

Romania

The timeline of granting women's suffrage in Romania was gradual and complex, due to the turbulent historical period when it happened. The concept of universal suffrage for allmenwas introduced in 1918,and reinforced by the1923 Constitution of Romania.Although this constitution opened the way for the possibility of women's suffrage too (Article 6),this did not materialize: the Electoral Law of 1926 did not grant women the right to vote, maintaining all male suffrage.Starting in 1929, women who met certain qualifications were allowed to vote in local elections.After theConstitution from 1938(elaborated underCarol II of Romaniawho sought to implement an authoritarian regime) the voting rights were extended to women for national elections by the Electoral Law 1939,but both women and men had restrictions, and in practice these restrictions affected women more than men (the new restrictions on men also meant that men lost their previous universal suffrage). Although women could vote, they could be elected only to theSenateand not to theChamber of Deputies(Article 4 (c)).(the Senate was later abolished in 1940). Due to the historical context of the time, which included the dictatorship ofIon Antonescu,there were no elections in Romania between 1940 and 1946. In 1946, Law no. 560 gave full equal rights to men and women to vote and to be elected in the Chamber of Deputies; and women voted in the1946 Romanian general election.TheConstitution of 1948gave women and men equal civil and political rights (Article 18).Until the collapse of communism in 1989, all the candidates were chosen by theRomanian Communist Party,and civil rights were merely symbolic under this authoritarian regime.

A 1917 demonstration in Petrograd. The plaque says (in Russian): "Without the participation of women, election is not universal!"

Russia

Despite initial apprehension against enfranchising women for the right to vote for the upcomingConstituent Assembly election,theLeague for Women's Equalityand other suffragists rallied throughout the year of 1917 for the right to vote. After much pressure (including a 40,000-strong march on theTauride Palace), on July 20, 1917, theProvisional Governmentenfranchised women with the right to vote.

San Marino

San Marinointroducedwomen's suffragein 1959,following the 1957 constitutional crisis known asFatti di Rovereta.It was however only in 1973 that women obtained the right to stand for election.

Spain

Women exercising the right to vote during theSecond Spanish Republic,November 5, 1933

During theMiguel Primo de Riveraregime (1923–1930) only women who were considered heads of household were allowed tovotein local elections, but there were none at that time. Women's suffrage was officially adopted in 1931 despite the opposition ofMargarita NelkenandVictoria Kent,two female MPs (both members of the Republican Radical-Socialist Party), who argued that women in Spain at that moment lacked social and political education enough to vote responsibly because they would be unduly influenced by Catholic priests.Most Spanish Republicans at the time held the same view.The other female MP at the time,Clara Campoamorof the liberal Radical Party, was a strong advocate of women's suffrage and she was the one leading the Parliament's affirmative vote. During theFrancoregime in the "organic democracy" type of elections called "referendums" (Franco's regime was dictatorial) women over 21 were allowed to vote without distinction.From 1976, during theSpanish transition to democracywomen fully exercised the right to vote and be elected to office.

Sweden

The Swedish writerMaria Gustava Gyllenstierna(1672–1737); as a taxpaying property owner, and a woman of legal majority due to her widowed status, she belonged to the women granted suffrage in accordance with the constitution of theage of liberty(1718–1772).

During theAge of Liberty(1718–1772), Sweden had conditional women's suffrage.Until the reform of 1865, the local elections consisted of mayoral elections in the cities, and elections of parish vicars in the countryside parishes. TheSockenstämmawas the local parish council who handled local affairs, in which the parish vicar presided and the local peasantry assembled and voted, an informally regulated process in which women are reported to have participated already in the 17th century.The national elections consisted of the election of the representations to theRiksdag of the Estates.

Suffrage was gender neutral and therefore applied to women as well as men if they filled the qualifications of a voting citizen.These qualifications were changed during the course of the 18th-century, as well as the local interpretation of the credentials, affecting the number of qualified voters: the qualifications also differed between cities and countryside, as well as local or national elections.

Initially, the right tovotein local city elections (mayoral elections) was granted to everyburgher,which was defined as a taxpaying citizen with aguildmembership.Women as well as men were members of guilds, which resulted in women's suffrage for a limited number of women. In 1734, suffrage in both national and local elections, in cities as well as countryside, was granted to every property owning taxpaying citizen oflegal majority.This extended suffrage to all taxpaying property owning women whether guild members or not, but excluded married women and the majority of unmarried women, as married women were defined as legal minors, and unmarried women were minors unless they applied for legal majority by royal dispensation, while widowed and divorced women were of legal majority.The 1734 reform increased the participation of women in elections from 55 to 71 percent.

Swedish suffragistSigne Bergman,c. 1910

Between 1726 and 1742, women voted in 17 of 31 examined mayoral elections.Reportedly, some women voters in mayoral elections preferred to appoint a male to vote for them byproxyin the city hall because they found it embarrassing to do so in person, which was cited as a reason to abolish women's suffrage by its opponents.The custom to appoint to vote by proxy was however used also by males, and it was in fact common for men, who were absent or ill during elections, to appoint their wives to vote for them.InVaasain Finland (then a Swedish province), there was opposition against women participating in the town hall discussing political issues as this was not seen as their right place, and women's suffrage appears to have been opposed in practice in some parts of the realm: whenAnna Elisabeth Baerand two other women petitioned to vote in Åbo in 1771, they were not allowed to do so by town officials.

In 1758, women were excluded from mayoral elections by a new regulation by which they could no longer be defined as burghers, but women's suffrage was kept in the national elections as well as the countryside parish elections.Women participated in all of the eleven national elections held up until 1757.In 1772, women's suffrage in national elections was abolished by demand from the burgher estate. Women's suffrage was first abolished for taxpaying unmarried women of legal majority, and then for widows. However, the local interpretation of the prohibition of women's suffrage varied, and some cities continued to allow women to vote: inKalmar,Växjö,Västervik,Simrishamn,Ystad,Åmål,Karlstad,Bergslagen,DalarnaandNorrland,women were allowed to continue to vote despite the 1772 ban, while inLund,Uppsala,Skara,Åbo,GothenburgandMarstrand,women were strictly barred from the vote after 1772.

Women's suffrage demonstration in Gothenburg, June 1918

While women's suffrage was banned in the mayoral elections in 1758 and in the national elections in 1772, no such bar was ever introduced in the local elections in the countryside, where women therefore continued to vote in the local parish elections of vicars.In a series of reforms in 1813–1817, unmarried women of legal majority, "Unmarried maiden, who has been declared of legal majority", were given the right to vote in thesockestämma(local parish council, the predecessor of the communal and city councils), and thekyrkoråd(local church councils).

In 1823, a suggestion was raised by the mayor of Strängnäs to reintroduce women's suffrage for taxpaying women of legal majority (unmarried, divorced and widowed women) in the mayoral elections, and this right was reintroduced in 1858.

In 1862, tax-paying women of legal majority (unmarried, divorced and widowed women) were again allowed to vote in municipal elections, making Sweden the first country in the world to grant women the right to vote.This was after the introduction of a new political system, where a new local authority was introduced: the communal municipal council. The right to vote in municipal elections applied only to people of legal majority, which excluded married women, as they were juridically under the guardianship of their husbands. In 1884 the suggestion to grant women the right to vote in national elections was initially voted down in Parliament.During the 1880s, theMarried Woman's Property Rights Associationhad a campaign to encourage the female voters, qualified to vote in accordance with the 1862 law, to use their vote and increase the participation of women voters in the elections, but there was yet no public demand for women's suffrage among women. In 1888, thetemperanceactivistEmilie Rathoubecame the first woman in Sweden to demand the right for women's suffrage in a public speech.In 1899, a delegation from theFredrika Bremer Associationpresented a suggestion of women's suffrage to prime ministerErik Gustaf Boström.The delegation was headed byAgda Montelius,accompanied byGertrud Adelborg,who had written the demand. This was the first time the Swedish women's movement themselves had officially presented a demand for suffrage.

In 1902 theSwedish Society for Woman Suffragewas founded, supported by theSocial Democratic women's Clubs.In 1906 the suggestion of women's suffrage was voted down in parliament again.In 1909, the right to vote in municipal elections were extended to also include married women.The same year, women were granted eligibility for election to municipal councils,and in the following 1910–11 municipal elections, forty women were elected to different municipal councils,Gertrud Månssonbeing the first. In 1914Emilia Broomébecame the first woman in the legislative assembly.

The right to vote in national elections was not returned to women until 1919, and was practiced again in the election of 1921, for the first time in 150 years.

After the 1921 election, the first women were elected to Swedish Parliament after women's suffrage wereKerstin Hesselgrenin the Upper chamber andNelly Thüring(Social Democrat),Agda Östlund(Social Democrat)Elisabeth Tamm(liberal) andBertha Wellin(Conservative) in the Lower chamber.Karin Kock-Lindbergbecame the first female government minister, and in 1958,Ulla Lindströmbecame the first acting prime minister.

Switzerland

Main article:Women's suffrage in Switzerland

Areferendumon women's suffrage was held on February 1, 1959. The majority of Switzerland's men (67%) voted against it, but in some French-speakingcantonswomen obtained the vote.The first Swiss woman to hold political office,Trudy Späth-Schweizer,was elected to the municipal government ofRiehenin 1958.

Switzerland was the last Western republic to grant women's suffrage; they gained the right to vote in federal elections in 1971 aftera second referendumthat year.In 1991 following a decision by theFederal Supreme Court of Switzerland,Appenzell Innerrhodenbecame the last Swiss canton to grant women the vote on local issues.

The first female member of the seven-memberSwiss Federal Council,Elisabeth Kopp,served from 1984 to 1989.Ruth Dreifuss,the second female member, served from 1993 to 1999, and was the first femalePresident of the Swiss Confederationfor the year 1999. From September 22, 2010, until December 31, 2011, the highest political executive of the Swiss Confederation had a majority of female councillors (4 of 7); for the three years 2010, 2011, and 2012 Switzerland was presided byfemale presidencyfor three years in a row; the latest one was for the year 2017.

Turkey

Eighteen female MPs joined the Turkish Parliament in 1935.

InTurkey,Atatürk,the founding president of the republic, led a secularist cultural and legal transformation supporting women's rights including voting and being elected. Women won the right to vote in municipal elections on March 20, 1930. Women's suffrage was achieved for parliamentary elections on December 5, 1934, through a constitutional amendment. Turkish women, who participated in parliamentary elections for the first time on February 8, 1935, obtained 18 seats.

In the early republic, when Atatürk ran a one-party state, his party picked all candidates. A small percentage of seats were set aside for women, so naturally those female candidates won. When multi-party elections began in the 1940s, the share of women in the legislature fell, and the 4% share of parliamentary seats gained in 1935 was not reached again until 1999. In the parliament of 2011, women hold about 9% of the seats. Nevertheless, Turkish women gained the right to vote a decade or more before women in such Western European countries as France, Italy, and Belgium – a mark of Atatürk's far-reaching social changes.

Tansu Çillerserved as the 22nd prime minister of Turkey and the first female prime minister of Turkey from 1993 to 1996. She was elected to the parliament in 1991 general elections and she became prime minister on June 25, 1993, when her cabinet was approved by the parliament.

United Kingdom

Main article:Women's suffrage in the United Kingdom

A British cartoon speculating on why imprisonedsuffragettesrefused to eat in prison

Constance Markieviczwas the first woman elected to the BritishHouse of Commonsin 1918, but as anIrish nationalistshe did not take her seat, instead joining theFirst Dáil.In 1919 she was appointedMinister for Labour,the first female minister in a democraticgovernment cabinet.

The campaign for women's suffrage in theUnited Kingdom of Great Britain and Irelandgained momentum throughout the early part of the 19th century, as women became increasingly politically active, particularly duringthe campaigns to reform suffrage in the United Kingdom.John Stuart Mill,elected toParliamentin 1865 and an open advocate of female suffrage (about to publishThe Subjection of Women), campaigned for an amendment to theReform Act 1832to include female suffrage.Roundly defeated in an all-male parliament under a Conservative government, the issue of women's suffrage came to the fore.

Until the 1832 Reform Act specified "male persons", a few women had been able to vote in parliamentary elections through property ownership, although this was rare.In local government elections, women lost the right to vote under theMunicipal Corporations Act 1835.Unmarried womenratepayersreceived the right to vote in theMunicipal Franchise Act 1869.This right was confirmed in theLocal Government Act 1894and extended to include some married women.By 1900, more than 1 million women were registered to vote in local government elections in England.

In 1881, theIsle of Man(in the British Isles but not part of the United Kingdom) passed a law giving the vote to single and widowed women who passed a property qualification. This was to vote in elections for the House of Keys, in the Island's parliament, Tynwald. This was extended to universal suffrage for men and women in 1919.

During the later half of the 19th century, a number of campaign groups for women's suffrage in national elections were formed in an attempt to lobby members of parliament and gain support. In 1897, seventeen of these groups came together to form theNational Union of Women's Suffrage Societies(NUWSS), who held public meetings, wrote letters to politicians and published various texts.In 1907 the NUWSS organized its first large procession.This march became known as theMud Marchas over 3,000 women trudged through the streets of London fromHyde ParktoExeter Hallto advocate women's suffrage.

In 1903 a number of members of the NUWSS broke away and, led byEmmeline Pankhurst,formed theWomen's Social and Political Union(WSPU).As the national media lost interest in the suffrage campaign, the WSPU decided it would use other methods to create publicity. This began in 1905 at a meeting in Manchester'sFree Trade HallwhereEdward Grey, 1st Viscount Grey of Fallodon,a member of the newly elected Liberal government, was speaking.As he was talking,Christabel PankhurstandAnnie Kenneyof the WSPU constantly shouted out: "Will the Liberal Government give votes to women?"When they refused to cease calling out, police were called to evict them and the two suffragettes (as members of the WSPU became known after this incident) were involved in a struggle that ended with them being arrested and charged for assault.When they refused to pay their fine, they were sent to prison for one week, and three days.The British public were shocked and took notice at this use of violence to win the vote for women.

After this media success, the WSPU's tactics became increasingly violent. This included an attempt in 1908 to storm theHouse of Commons,the arson ofDavid Lloyd George's country home (despite his support for women's suffrage). In 1909 LadyConstance Lyttonwas imprisoned, but immediately released when her identity was discovered, so in 1910 she disguised herself as a working class seamstress calledJane Wartonand endured inhumane treatment which includedforce-feeding.In 1913, suffragetteEmily Davisonprotested by interfering with a horse owned by KingGeorge Vduring the running ofThe Derby;she was struck by the horse and died four days later. The WSPU ceased their militant activities duringWorld War Iand agreed to assist with thewar effort.

The National Union of Women's Suffrage Societies, which had always employed "constitutional" methods, continued to lobby during the war years, and compromises were worked out between the NUWSS and the coalition government.TheSpeaker's Conference on electoral reform (1917)represented all the parties in both houses, and came to the conclusion that women's suffrage was essential. Regarding fears that women would suddenly move from zero to a majority of the electorate due to the heavy loss of men during the war, the Conference recommended that the age restriction be 21 for men, and 30 for women.

On February 6, 1918, theRepresentation of the People Act 1918was passed, enfranchising women over the age of 30 who met minimum property qualifications. About 8.4 million women gained the vote in Great Britain and Ireland.In November 1918, theParliament (Qualification of Women) Act 1918was passed, allowing women to be elected into Parliament. TheRepresentation of the People (Equal Franchise) Act 1928extended the franchise in Great Britain and Northern Ireland to all women over the age of 21, granting women the vote on the same terms as men.

In 1999,Timemagazine, in naming Emmeline Pankhurst as one of the100 Most Important People of the 20th Century,states: "...she shaped an idea of women for our time; she shook society into a new pattern from which there could be no going back".

Oceania

Australian women's rights were lampooned in this 1887Melbourne Punchcartoon: A hypothetical female member foists her baby's care on the House Speaker.South Australianwomen were to achieve the vote in 1895.

Australia, Pitcairn and Norfolk Islands

Main article:Women's suffrage in Australia

The female descendants of theBountymutineerswho lived onPitcairn Islandscould vote from 1838, and this right transferred with their resettlement toNorfolk Island(now anAustralian external territory) in 1856.

Edith Cowan(1861–1932) was elected to theWestern Australian Legislative Assemblyin 1921 and was the first woman elected to any Australian Parliament (though women in Australia had already had the vote for two decades).

Propertied women in the colony of South Australia were granted the vote in local elections (but not parliamentary elections) in 1861.Henrietta Dugdaleformed the first Australian women's suffrage society inMelbournein 1884.The Womanhood Suffrage League of New South Waleswas founded in Sydney in 1891. Women became eligible to vote for theParliament of South Australiain 1895, as were Aboriginal men and women.In 1897,Catherine Helen Spencebecame the first female political candidate for political office, unsuccessfully standing for election as a delegate to Federal Convention on Australian Federation.Western Australiagranted voting rights to women in 1899.

The first election for the Parliament of the newly formed Commonwealth of Australia in 1901 was based on the electoral provisions of the six pre-existing colonies, so that women who had the vote and the right to stand for Parliament at state level had the same rights for the 1901 Australian Federal election. In 1902, the Commonwealth Parliament passed the Commonwealth Franchise Act, which enabled all non-indigenous women to vote and stand for election to the Federal Parliament. The following yearNellie Martel,Mary Moore-Bentley,Vida Goldstein,andSelina Sigginsstood for election.The Act specifically excluded 'natives' from Commonwealth franchise unless already enrolled in a state, the situation in South Australia. In 1949, the right to vote in federal elections was extended to all indigenous people who had served in the armed forces, or were enrolled to vote in state elections (Queensland, Western Australia, and the Northern Territory still excluded indigenous women from voting rights). Remaining restrictions were abolished in 1962 by the Commonwealth Electoral Act.

Edith Cowanwas elected to the Western Australian Legislative Assembly in 1921, the first woman elected to any Australian Parliament. DameEnid Lyons,in theAustralian House of Representativesand SenatorDorothy Tangneybecame the first women in the Federal Parliament in 1943. Lyons went on to be the first woman to hold aCabinetpost in the 1949 ministry ofRobert Menzies.Rosemary Follettwas electedChief Minister of the Australian Capital Territoryin 1989, becoming the first woman elected to lead a state or territory. By 2010, the people of Australia's oldest city,Sydneyhad female leaders occupying every major political office above them, withClover Mooreas Lord Mayor,Kristina Keneallyas Premier of New South Wales,Marie Bashiras Governor of New South Wales,Julia Gillardas prime minister,Quentin BryceasGovernor-General of AustraliaandElizabeth IIasQueen of Australia.

Cook Islands

Main article:Women in the Cook Islands

WomeninRarotongawon the right to vote in 1893, shortly after New Zealand.

New Zealand

Main article:Women's suffrage in New Zealand

New Zealand's Electoral Act of September 19, 1893 made this country the first in the world to grant women the right to vote in parliamentary elections.

Although theLiberal governmentwhich passed the bill generally advocated social and political reform, the electoral bill was only passed because of a combination of personality issues and political accident. The bill granted the vote to women of all races. New Zealand women were denied the right to stand for parliament, however, until 1920. In 2005 almost a third of theMembers of Parliamentelected were female. Women recently have also occupied powerful and symbolic offices such as those ofPrime Minister(Jenny Shipley,Helen ClarkandJacinda Ardern),Governor-General(Catherine Tizard,Patsy Reddy,Cindy KiroandSilvia Cartwright),Chief Justice(Sian EliasandHelen Winkelmann),Speaker of the House of Representatives(Margaret Wilson), and from March 3, 2005, to August 23, 2006, all four of these posts were held by women, along withQueen ElizabethasHead of State.

The Americas

Women in Central and South America, and in Mexico, lagged behind those in Canada and the United States in gaining the vote. Ecuador enfranchised women in 1929 and the last was Paraguay in 1961.By date of full suffrage:

• 1929: Ecuador
• 1932: Uruguay
• 1934: Brazil, Cuba
• 1939: El Salvador
• 1941: Panama
• 1946: Guatemala, Venezuela
• 1947: Argentina
• 1948: Suriname
• 1949: Chile, Costa Rica
• 1950: Haiti
• 1952: Bolivia
• 1953: Mexico
• 1954: Belize, Colombia
• 1955: Honduras, Nicaragua, Peru,
• 1961: Paraguay

There were political, religious, and cultural debates about women's suffrage in the various countries.Important advocates for women's suffrage includeHermila Galindo(Mexico),Eva Perón(Argentina),Alicia Moreau de Justo(Argentina),Julieta Lanteri(Argentina),Celina Guimarães Viana(Brazil),Ivone Guimarães(Brazil),Henrietta Müller(Chile),Marta Vergara(Chile),Lucila Rubio de Laverde(Colombia),María Currea Manrique(Colombia),Josefa Toledo de Aguerri(Nicaragua),Elida Campodónico(Panama),Clara González(Panama),Gumercinda Páez(Panama),Paulina Luisi Janicki(Uruguay),Carmen Clemente Travieso,(Venezuela).

Argentina

The modern suffragist movement in Argentina arose partly in conjunction with the activities of theSocialist Partyand anarchists of the early twentieth century. Women involved in larger movements for social justice began to agitate equal rights and opportunities on par with men; following the example of their European peers, Elvira Dellepiane Rawson,Cecilia GriersonandAlicia Moreau de Justobegan to form a number of groups in defense of the civil rights of women between 1900 and 1910. The first major victories for extending the civil rights of women occurred in theProvince of San Juan.Women had been allowed to vote in that province since 1862, but only in municipal elections. A similar right was extended in theprovince of Santa Fewhere a constitution that ensured women's suffrage was enacted at the municipal level, although female participation in votes initially remained low. In 1927, San Juan sanctioned its Constitution and broadly recognized the equal rights of men and women. However, the1930 coupoverthrew these advances.

Women's demonstration in Buenos Aires in front of the National Congress by law for universal suffrage, 1947

A great pioneer of women's suffrage wasJulieta Lanteri,the daughter of Italian immigrants, who in 1910 requested a national court to grant her the right to citizenship (at the time not generally given to single female immigrants) as well as suffrage. The Claros judge upheld her request and declared: "As a judge, I have a duty to declare that her right to citizenship is enshrined in the Constitution, and therefore that women enjoy the same political rights as the laws grant to male citizens, with the only restrictions expressly determined such laws, because no inhabitant is deprived of what they do not prohibit."

In July 1911,Dr. Lanteriwere enumerated, and on November 26 of that year exercised her right to vote, the first Ibero-American woman to vote. Also covered in a judgment in 1919 was presented as a candidate for national deputy for the Independent Centre Party, obtaining 1,730 votes out of 154,302.

In 1919, Rogelio Araya UCR Argentina had gone down in history for being the first to submit a bill recognizing the right to vote for women, an essential component of universal suffrage. On July 17, 1919, he served as deputy national on behalf of the people ofSanta Fe.

On February 27, 1946, three days after theelectionsthat consecrated presidentJuan Perónand his wife First LadyEva Perón26 years of age gave his first political speech in an organized women to thank them for their support of Perón's candidacy. On that occasion, Eva demanded equal rights for men and women and particularly, women's suffrage:

The woman Argentina has exceeded the period of civil tutorials. Women must assert their action, women should vote. The woman, moral spring home, you should take the place in the complex social machinery of the people. He asks a necessity new organize more extended and remodeled groups. It requires, in short, the transformation of the concept of woman who sacrificially has increased the number of its duties without seeking the minimum of their rights.

The bill was presented the new constitutional government assumed immediately after the May 1, 1946. The opposition of conservative bias was evident, not only the opposition parties but even within parties who supportedPeronism.Eva Perón constantly pressured the parliament for approval, even causing protests from the latter for this intrusion.

Although it was a brief text in three articles, that practically could not give rise to discussions, the Senate recently gave preliminary approval to the project August 21, 1946, and had to wait over a year for the House of Representative to publish the September 9, 1947, Law 13,010, establishing equal political rights between men and women and universal suffrage inArgentina.Finally, Law 13,010 was approved unanimously.

Eva Perónvoting at the hospital in 1951. It was the first time women had been permitted to vote in national elections in Argentina. To this end Perón received the Civic Book No. 00.000.001. It was the first and only time she would vote; Perón died July 26, 1952, after developing cervical cancer.

In an official statement on national television, Eva Perón announced the extension of suffrage to Argentina's women:

Women of this country, this very instant I receive from the Government the law that enshrines our civic rights. And I receive it in front of you, with the confidence that I do so on behalf and in the name of all Argentinian women. I do so joyously, as I feel my hands tremble upon contact with victory proclaiming laurels. Here it is, my sisters, summarized into few articles of compact letters lies a long history of battles, stumbles, and hope.

Because of this, in it there lie exasperating indignation, shadows of menacing sunsets, but also cheerful awakenings of triumphal auroras. And the latter which translates the victory of women over the incomprehensions, the denials, and the interests created by the castes now repudiated by our national awakening.

And a leader who destiny forged to victoriously face the problems of our era, General [Perón]. With him, and our vote we shall contribute to the perfection of Argentina's democracy, my dear comrades.

On September 23, 1947, they enacted the Female Enrollment Act (No. 13,010) during the first presidency of Juan Domingo Perón, which was implemented in theelections of November 11, 1951,in which 3,816,654 women voted (63.9% voted for theJusticialist Partyand 30.8% for theRadical Civic Union). Later in 1952, the first 23 senators and deputies took their seats, representing the Justicialist Party.

The Bahamas

In 1951, a women's committee was formed under the leadership ofMary Ingrahamwho collected over 500 signatures in favor of women's suffrage and turned in a petition to the Bahamian parliament.

In 1958, theNational Women's Councilwas founded byDoris Sands JohnsonwithErma Grant Smithas president; the organization was given the support of theProgressive Liberal Party(PLP), and when theUnited Bahamian Party(UBP) finally gave its support after long resistance, women's suffrage could finally be passed in parliament in 1960.

Belize

In Belize,The Nationalist Movement (Belize)formed a women's group, theWomen's LeagueunderElfreda Trapp,who campaigned for women's suffrage among the demands the worker's and independence movement's put upon the British authorities, and presented a petition of women's suffrage to governorAlan Burnsin 1935. Women's suffrage was finally introduced in the reform bill of 1954, when full male suffrage was also introduced.

Bermuda

In 1918,Gladys Morrellheld a public speech in favor of women's suffrage, and in 1923 the women's movement organized in theBermuda Woman’s Suffrage Societychaired byRose Goslingto campaigned for women's suffrage. Women's suffrage was finally introduced in 1944.

Bolivia

In Bolivia, the first women's organization in the country, theAtene Femenino,was active for the introduction of women's suffrage from the 1920s.

Municipal women's suffrage and granted in 1947, and full suffrage in 1952.

Brazil

First women electors ofBrazil,Rio Grande do Norte,1928

In Brazil, the issue was lifted foremost by the organizationFederação Brasileira pelo Progresso Femininofrom 1922. The struggle for women's suffrage was part of a larger movement to gain rights for women.Most of the suffragists consisted of a minority of women from the educated elite, which made the activism appear less threatening to the political male elite.

The law ofRio Grande do NorteState allowed women to vote in 1926.

Women were granted the right to vote and be elected in Electoral Code of 1932, followed by Brazilian Constitution of 1934.

Canada

Main article:Women's suffrage in Canada

Women's political status without the vote was promoted by theNational Council of Women of Canadafrom 1894 to 1918. It promoted a vision of "transcendent citizenship" for women. The ballot was not needed, for citizenship was to be exercised through personal influence and moral suasion, through the election of men with strong moral character, and through raising public-spirited sons. The National Council position was integrated into its nation-building program that sought to uphold Canada as a white settler nation. While the women's suffrage movement was important for extending the political rights of white women, it was also authorized through race-based arguments that linked white women's enfranchisement to the need to protect the nation from "racial degeneration."

Women had local votes in some provinces, as in Ontario from 1850, where women owning property (freeholdersand householders) could vote for school trustees.By 1900 other provinces had adopted similar provisions, and in 1916 Manitoba took the lead in extending women's suffrage.Simultaneously suffragists gave strong support to the Prohibition movement, especially in Ontario and the Western provinces.

TheWartime Elections Actof 1917 gave the vote to British women who were war widows or had sons, husbands, fathers, or brothers serving overseas.UnionistPrime Minister SirRobert Bordenpledged himself during the 1917 campaign to equal suffrage for women. After his landslide victory, he introduced a bill in 1918 for extending the franchise to women. On May 24, 1918, women considered citizens (not Aboriginal women, or most women of colour) became eligible to vote who were "age 21 or older, not alien-born and meet property requirements in provinces where they exist".

Most women of Quebec gained full suffrage in 1940.Aboriginal women across Canada were not given federal voting rights until 1960.

The first woman elected to Parliament wasAgnes Macphailin Ontario in 1921.

Chile

Main article:Women's suffrage in Chile

Debate about women's suffrage in Chile began in the 1920s.Women's suffrage inmunicipalelections was first established in 1931 by decree (decreto con fuerza de ley);voting agefor women was set at 25 years.In addition, theChamber of Deputiesapproved a law on March 9, 1933, establishing women's suffrage in municipal elections.

Women obtained the legal right to vote in parliamentary and presidential elections in 1949.Women's share among voters increased steadily after 1949, reaching the same levels of participation as men in 1970.

Colombia

Main article:Women's suffrage in Colombia

Women organized in the LiberalUnion Femenina de Colombia(UFC) in 1944 and the SocialistAliazna Femeninain 1945 to demand women's suffrage. The Liberal and Socialist party supported the reform; the conservatives initially did not, but changed its attitude when the Catholic church supported it after the Pope's statement that women were loyal conservatives and thus supporters against Communism. The vote was finally introduced in 1954.

Costa Rica

The campaign for women's suffrage in begun in the 1910s, and the campaigns were active during all electoral reforms in 1913, 1913, 1925, 1927 and 1946, notably by theFeminist League(1923), which was a part of theInternational League of Iberian and Hispanic-American Women,who had a continuing campaign between 1925 and 1945.

Women obtained the legal right to vote in parliamentary and presidential elections in 1949.

Cuba

The campaign for women's suffrage begun in the 1920s, when Cuban elite feminists started to organize in associations such asClub Femenino de CubaandPartido Democrata Sufragistaand collaborate and campaign for women's issues; they arranged congresses in 1923, 1925 and 1939, and managed to achieve a reformed property rights law (1917) a no-fault divorce law (1918), and finally women's suffrage in 1934.

Women obtained the legal right to vote in parliamentary and presidential elections in 1934.

Dominican Republic

The women's movement in the Dominican Republic organized in 1931 in theAcción Feminista Dominicana(AFD), who allied withRafael Trujilloin order to reach their goal of women's suffrage. Trujillo finally fulfilled his promise to the AFD for its support after eleven years, when he introduced women's suffrage on the Dominican Republic in 1942.

Ecuador

Main article:Women's suffrage in Ecuador

Women obtained the legal right to vote in parliamentary and presidential elections in 1929.This was the first time in South America.

El Salvador

Between June 1921 and January 1922, when El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Costa Rica formed a (second)Federation of Central America,the Constitution of this state included women's suffrage on 9 September 1921, but the reform could never be implemented because the Federation (and thereby its constitution) did not last.

The campaign for women's suffrage begun in the 1920s, notably by the leading figurePrudencia Ayala.

Women obtained the legal right to vote in parliamentary and presidential elections in 1939.However, the qualifications were extreme and excluded 80 percent of women so the suffrage movement continued its campaign in the 1940s, notably byMatilde Elena LópezandAna Rosa Ochoa,until the restrictions was lifted in 1950.

Guatemala

Between June 1921 and January 1922, when El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Costa Rica formed a (second)Federation of Central America,the Constitution of this state included women's suffrage on 9 September 1921, but the reform could never be implemented because the Federation (and thereby its constitution) did not last.

The campaign for women's suffrage in begun in the 1920s, notably by the organisations Gabriela Mistral Society (1925) andGraciela Quan's Guatemalan Feminine Pro-Citizenship Union (1945).

Women obtained the legal right to vote in parliamentary and presidential elections in 1945 (without restrictions in 1965).

Guyana

In Guyana, theWomen’s Political and Economic Organization(WPEO) was founded byJanet Jagan,Winifred GaskinandFrances Van Staffordin 1946 to campaign for women's suffrage,and the campaign was given support by thePeople's Progressive Party(PPP) and its women's groupWomen’s Progressive Organization(WPO), until full women's suffrage was introduced in connection to the new reformed constitution in 1953.

Haiti

The campaign for women's suffrage in Haiti begun after the foundation ofLigue Feminine d’Action Sociale(LFAS) in 1934.

Women obtained the legal right to vote in parliamentary and presidential elections on 4 November 1950.

Honduras

Between June 1921 and January 1922, when El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Costa Rica formed a (second)Federation of Central America,the Constitution of this state included women's suffrage on 9 September 1921, but the reform could never be implemented because the Federation (and thereby its constitution) did not last.

The campaign for women's suffrage begun in the 1920s, notably by the leading figureVisitación Padilla,who was the leader of the biggest women's organisation (Sociedad Cultural Femenina).

Women obtained the legal right to vote in parliamentary and presidential elections in 1955.

Jamaica

After women's suffrage had been introduced in Britain in 1918, white elite women organized in theWomen's Social Service Club(also known as theWomen's Social Service Associationor WSSA) campaigned under the leadership ofNellie LatrielleandJudith DeCordovafor the introduction of the reform on Jamaica from May 1918, and succeeded when limited suffrage for taxpaying women of property was introduced in May 1919. The women's suffrage – as was male suffrage at the time – was, however, limited to a minority of women, and during the 1930s, women campaigned for universal women's suffrage via theUniversal Negro Improvement Association(UNIA) theJamaica Women's League(JWL) and theWomen's Liberal Club(1936), until full suffrage was finally introduced in 1944.

Mexico

Main article:Women's suffrage in Mexico

See also:Women in Mexico

Women gained the right to vote in 1947 for some local elections and for national elections in 1953, coming after a struggle dating to the 19th century.

Nicaragua

A women's movement was organized in Nicaragua in the 1920s. Their demand for women's suffrage was supported by theNationalist Liberal Party,who allied themselves with the women's movement in order to get their support during their regime.

The Nationalist Liberal Party promised to introduce the reform of women's suffrage, and in 1939, the leader of the Nicaraguan women's movementJosefa Toledo(leader of the Nicaragua branch of theInternational League of Iberian and Latin American Women) demanded that the regime fulfil their promise to the women's movement.

The promise was finally fulfilled in 1950, and the reform introduced in 1955. After this, the Nicaraguan women's associations were incorporated in the women's wing of the Nationalist Liberal Party, theAla Femenina Liberal,under the leadership ofOlga Nunez de Saballos(who became the first woman MP), and gave the Party its official support in the following elections.

Panama

The campaign for women's suffrage begun after the foundation ofFederation of Women's Club of the Canalin 1903, which became a part of theGeneral Federation of Clubsin New York City, which made the suffrage movement in Panama heavily influenced by the suffrage movement in the United States.In 1922 The Feminist Group Renovation (FGR) was founded byClara González,which became the first Feminist Political women's party in Latin America when it was transformed to the Feminist National Party in 1923.

Women obtained the legal right to vote in communal elections in 1941, and in parliamentary and presidential elections 1946.

Paraguay

Paraguay was the last country in the Americas to grant women's suffrage.Liga Paraguaya de los Derechos de la Mujercampaigned for women's suffrage during the 1950s. Women's suffrage was gained in Paraguay in 1961, primarily because thestrongarmpresident,Alfredo Stroessner,lacking the approval of his male constituents, sought to bolster his support through women voters.

United States

Program forWoman Suffrage Procession,Washington, D.C., March 3, 1913. The parade was organized by suffragistsAlice PaulandLucy Burns.

Main article:Women's suffrage in the United States

Long before theNineteenth Amendmentwas passed in 1920, some individual U.S. states granted women suffrage in certain kinds of elections. Some allowed women to vote in school elections, municipal elections, or for members of the Electoral College. Some territories, like Washington, Utah, and Wyoming, allowed women to vote before they became states.While many consider suffrage to include both voting rights and officeholding rights, many women were able to hold office prior to receiving voting rights.In fact, suffragists in the United States employed the strategy of petitioning for and utilizing officeholding rights first to make a stronger argument in favor of giving women the right to vote.

TheNew Jerseyconstitution of 1776 enfranchised all adult inhabitants who owned a specified amount of property. Laws enacted in 1790 and 1797 referred to voters as "he or she", and women regularly voted. A law passed in 1807, however, excluded women from voting in that state by moving towardsuniversal manhood suffrage.

Lydia Taftwas an early forerunner inColonial Americawho was allowed to vote in threeNew Englandtown meetings, beginning in 1756, atUxbridge, Massachusetts.The women's suffrage movement was closely tied toabolitionism,with many suffrage activists gaining their first experience as anti-slavery oranti-cannibalismactivists.

During the 20th century, the U.S. Post Office, under the auspices of the U.S. Government, had issued commemorative postage stamps celebrating notable women who fought for women suffrage and other rights for women. From left to right: —Susan B Anthony,1936 issue —Elizabeth Stanton,Carrie C. Catt,Lucretia Mott,1948 issue —Women Suffrage,1970 issue, celebrating the 50th anniversary of voting rights for women

In June 1848,Gerrit Smithmade women's suffrage aplankin theLiberty Partyplatform.In July, at theSeneca Falls Conventioninupstate New York,activists includingElizabeth Cady StantonandSusan B. Anthonybegan a seventy-year struggle by women to secure the right to vote.Attendees signed a document known as theDeclaration of Rights and Sentiments,of which Stanton was the primary author. Equal rights became the rallying cry of the early movement for women's rights, and equal rights meant claiming access to all the prevailing definitions of freedom. In 1850Lucy Stoneorganized a larger assembly with a wider focus, theNational Women's Rights ConventioninWorcester, Massachusetts.Susan B. Anthony,a resident ofRochester, New York,joined the cause in 1852 after reading Stone's 1850 speech. Stanton, Stone and Anthony were the three leading figures of this movement in the U.S. during the 19th century: the "triumvirate" of the drive to gain voting rights for women.Women's suffrage activists pointed out that black people had been granted the franchise and had not been included in the language of theUnited States Constitution's Fourteenth and Fifteenth amendments (which gave people equal protection under the law and the right to vote regardless of their race, respectively). This, they contended, had been unjust. Early victories were won in the territories ofWyoming(1869)andUtah(1870).

"Kaiser Wilson" banner held by a woman who picketed theWhite House

John Allen Campbell,the first Governor of the Wyoming Territory, approved the first law in United States history explicitly granting women the right to vote entitled "An Act to Grant to the Women of Wyoming Territory the Right of Suffrage, and to Hold Office.”The law was approved on December 10, 1869. This day was later commemorated as Wyoming Day.On February 12, 1870, the Secretary of the Territory and Acting Governor of theTerritory of Utah,S. A. Mann, approved a law allowing twenty-one-year-old women to vote in any election in Utah.Utah women were disenfranchised by provisions of the federalEdmunds–Tucker Actenacted by theU.S. Congressin 1887.

Toledo Woman Suffrage Association,Toledo, Ohio,1912

The push to grant Utah women's suffrage was at least partially fueled by the belief that, given the right to vote, Utah women would dispose ofpolygamy.In actuality, it was the men ofthe Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saintsthat ultimately fought for women's enfranchisement to dispel myths that polygamy was akin to modern-day slavery.It was only after Utah women exercised their suffrage rights in favor of polygamy that the male-dominated U.S. Congress unilaterally disenfranchised Utah women.

By the end of the 19th century,Idaho,Utah,andWyominghad enfranchised women after effort by the suffrage associations at the state level;Coloradonotablyenfranchised women by an 1893 referendum.California voted to enfranchise women in 1911.

During the beginning of the 20th century, as women's suffrage faced several important federal votes, a portion of the suffrage movement known as theNational Woman's Partyled by suffragistAlice Paulbecame the first "cause" to picket outside the White House. Paul had been mentored by Emeline Pankhurst while in England, and both she andLucy Burnsled a series of protests against theWilson Administrationin Washington.

Wilson ignored the protests for six months, but on June 20, 1917, as a Russian delegation drove up to the White House, suffragists unfurled a banner which stated: "We women of America tell you that America is not a democracy. Twenty million women are denied the right to vote. President Wilson is the chief opponent of their national enfranchisement".Another banner on August 14, 1917, referred to "KaiserWilson "and compared the plight of the German people with that of American women. With this manner of protest, the women were subject to arrests and many were jailed. Another ongoing tactic of the National Woman's Party was watchfires, which involved burning copies of President Wilson's speeches, often outside the White House or in the nearby Lafayette Park. The Party continued to hold watchfires even as the war began, drawing criticism from the public and even other suffrage groups for being unpatriotic.On October 17, Alice Paul was sentenced to seven months and on October 30 began ahunger strike,but after a few days prison authorities began to force feed her.After years of opposition, Wilson changed his position in 1918 to advocate women's suffrage as a war measure.

TheSilent Sentinels,women suffragists picketing in front of the White Housec. February 1917.Banner on the left reads, "Mr President, How long must women wait for Liberty?", and the banner to the right, "Mr President, What will you do for women's suffrage?"

The key vote came on June 4, 1919,when the Senate approved the amendment by 56 to 25 after four hours of debate, during which Democratic Senators opposed to the amendmentfilibusteredto prevent a roll call until their absent Senators could be protected by pairs. The Ayes included 36 (82%) Republicans and 20 (54%) Democrats. The Nays were from 8 (18%) Republicans and 17 (46%) Democrats. TheNineteenth Amendment,which prohibited state or federal sex-based restrictions on voting, was ratified by sufficient states in 1920.According to the article, "Nineteenth Amendment", by Leslie Goldstein from the Encyclopedia of the Supreme Court of the United States, "by the end it also included jail sentences, and hunger strikes in jail accompanied by brutal force feedings; mob violence; and legislative votes so close that partisans were carried in on stretchers" (Goldstein, 2008). Even after the Nineteenth Amendment was ratified, women were still facing problems. For instance, when women had registered to vote in Maryland, "residents sued to have the women's names removed from the registry on the grounds that the amendment itself was unconstitutional" (Goldstein, 2008).

Before 1965, women of color, such as African Americans and Native Americans, weredisenfranchised,especially in theSouth.TheVoting Rights Act of 1965prohibited racial discrimination in voting, and secured voting rights for racial minorities throughout the U.S.

Puerto Rico

On Puerto Rico, the organized struggle for women's suffrage on the American dependency of Puerto Rico begun when the United States introduced suffrage for males only via the Jones Act in 1917, and theLiga Femínea Puertorriqueña(from 1920 known asLiga Social Sufragista) was founded byAna Roque de Dupreyto campaign for voting rights to be extended also to women. When women's suffrage was introduced in the US in 1920, the suffragists on Puerto Rico stated that this reform should apply to Puerto Rico as well, and sued under the leadership ofMilagros Benet de Mewtonfor this purpose. Women's suffrage was extended to Puerto Rico in 1929, but only for literate women; full women's suffrage was introduced by the US on Puerto Rico first in 1932.

Commemorative poster of the1938 Uruguayan general election.

Uruguay

Main article:Women's suffrage in Uruguay

Women's suffrage was announced as a principle in theConstitution of Uruguay of 1917,and declared as law in a decree of 1932. The first national election in which women voted was the1938 Uruguayan general election.

Venezuela

Main article:Women's suffrage in Venezuela

After the1928 Student Protests,women started participating more actively in politics. In 1935, women's rights supporters founded theFeminine Cultural Group(known as 'ACF' from its initials in Spanish), with the goal of tackling women's problems. The group supported women's political and social rights, and believed it was necessary to involve and inform women about these issues to ensure their personal development. It went on to give seminars, as well as founding night schools and the House of Laboring Women.

Groups looking to reform the 1936 Civil Code of Conduct in conjunction with the Venezuelan representation to the Union of American Women called the First Feminine Venezuelan Congress in 1940. In this congress, delegates discussed the situation of women in Venezuela and their demands. Key goals were women's suffrage and a reform to the Civil Code of Conduct. Around twelve thousand signatures were collected and handed to the Venezuelan Congress, which reformed the Civil Code of Conduct in 1942.

In 1944, groups supporting women's suffrage, the most important being Feminine Action, organized around the country. During 1945, women attained the right to vote at a municipal level. This was followed by a stronger call of action. Feminine Action began editing a newspaper called the Correo Cívico Femenino, to connect, inform and orientate Venezuelan women in their struggle. Finally, after the1945 Venezuelan coup d'étatand thecall for a new Constitution,to which women were elected, women's suffrage became a constitutional right in the country.

In non-religious organizations

The right of women to vote has sometimes been denied in non-religious organizations; for example, it was not until 1964 that women in theNational Association of the Deafin the United States were first allowed to vote.

In religion

Catholicism

ThePopeis elected bycardinals.Women are not appointed as cardinals, and therefore, women cannot vote for the Pope.

The female Catholic office ofAbbessis elective, the choice being made by the secret votes of nuns belonging to the community.The high rank ascribed to abbesses within the Catholic Church formerly permitted some abbesses 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.

On 6 February 2021,Pope FrancisappointedNathalie Becquartan undersecretary of theSynod of Bishops,making her the first woman to have the right to vote in the Synod of Bishops.

On 26 April 2023, Pope Francis announced that women would be allowed to vote at theSixteenth Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops,marking the first time women were allowed to vote at any Synod of Bishops.

Islam

See also:Women in Islam

In some countries, some mosques have constitutions prohibiting women from voting in board elections.

Judaism

See also:Women in Judaism

In Conservative Judaism, Reform Judaism, and most Orthodox Jewish movements, women have the right to vote. Since the 1970s, more and more Modern Orthodox synagogues and religious organizations have been granting women the right to vote and to be elected to their governing bodies. In a few Ultra-Orthodox Jewish communities, women are denied the vote or the ability to be elected to positions of authority.

In the United States, Jewish women were hugely participatory in the suffrage movement. American Jewish support started in the mid-1800s but grew significantly at the turn of the twentieth century due to Jewish immigration from Europe. Jewish suffragists facedantisemitismandxenophobiafromanti-suffragistsand suffragists alike. By the time of theNineteenth Amendment,a majority of American Jews supported suffrage.

Ernestine Rosewas a Polish American suffragist who worked closely withElizabeth Cady StantonandSusan B. Anthony.She is sometimes referred to as "the firstJewishfeminist "though she had renounced Judaism at an early age and was an active atheist.

Timelines

• Timeline of women's suffrage
• Timeline of women's legal rights (other than voting)
• Timeline of first women's suffrage in majority-Muslim countries

See also

• Anti-suffragism
• Art in the women's suffrage movement in the United States
• List of monuments and memorials to women's suffrage
• List of suffragists and suffragettes
• List of the first female holders of political offices in Europe
• List of the first female members of parliament by country
• List of women's rights activists
• Open Christmas Letter
• Suffrage Hikes
• Woman Suffrage Procession of 1913
• Women's suffrage in the United States
• Women's suffrage movement in Washington
• Women's suffrage organizations
• Women's work

External links

• Photo Essay on Women's Suffrage by the International Museum of Women
• Women's Suffrage,"A World Chronology of the Recognition of Women's Rights to Vote and to Stand for Election".
• Suffrage in Canada
• Press release with respect to Qatar and Yemen
• UNCG Special Collections and University Archives selections of American Suffragette manuscripts
• Photographs of U.S. suffragettes, marches, and demonstrations
• Ada James papers and correspondence (1915–1918)– a digital collection presented by theUniversity of Wisconsin Digital Collections Center.Ada James (1876–1952)was a leading a social reformer, humanitarian, and pacifist fromRichland Center,Wisconsin and daughter ofState SenatorDavid G. James. The Ada James papers document the grass roots organizing and politics required to promote and guarantee the passage of women's suffrage in Wisconsin and beyond.
• Women's suffrage in Germany– January 19, 1919 – first suffrage (active and passive) for women in Germany
• Suffragists vs. Suffragettes– brief article outlining origins of term "suffragette", usage of term and links to other sources.
• Women in Congress– Information about women who have served in the U.S. Congress including historical essays that cover suffrage.
• "Culture Victoria – historical images and videos for the Centenary of Women's Suffrage".Archived fromthe originalon July 20, 2011.
• Woman suffragist, Mary Ellen Ewing vs the Houston School Board –Collection at the University of Houston Digital Library.ArchivedMay 18, 2013, at theWayback Machine
• Women's Suffrage and Equal Rightsin the Claremont Colleges Digital Library
• Select "Suffrage" subject, at the Persuasive Cartography, The PJ Mode Collection,Cornell University Library
• Women of Protest: Photographs from the Records of the National Woman's Party
• Detailed Chronology of National Woman's*Digitized items from theNational American Women's Suffrage Collectionin theRare Book and Special Collections Divisionof theLibrary of Congress
• UP & DOING!,a video re-enactment of the 1894 passage of women's suffrage in South Australia produced by theParliament of South Australia
• “Let the Women Vote!,”PBS Utah, The Walter J. Brown Media Archives & Peabody Awards Collection at theUniversity of Georgia,American Archive of Public Broadcasting