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Women's suffrage Women's suffrage is the right of women to vote in elections. Beginning in the start 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 vot ...
– the right of women to vote – has been achieved at various times in countries throughout the world. In many nations, women's suffrage was granted before
universal suffrage Universal suffrage (also called universal franchise, general suffrage, and common suffrage of the common man) gives the right to vote to all adult citizens, regardless of wealth, income, gender, social status, race, ethnicity, or political sta ...
, so women and men from certain classes or races were still unable to vote. Some countries granted suffrage to both sexes at the same time. This timeline lists years when women's suffrage was enacted. Some countries are listed more than once, as the right was extended to more women according to age, land ownership, etc. In many cases, the first voting took place in a subsequent year. Some women in the Isle of Man (geographically part of the British Isles but not part of the United Kingdom) gained the right to vote in 1881.
New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island coun ...
was the first self-governing country in the world in which all women had the
right to vote Suffrage, political franchise, or simply franchise, is the right to vote in public, political elections and referendums (although the term is sometimes used for any right to vote). In some languages, and occasionally in English, the right to v ...
in parliamentary elections; from 1893. However women could not stand for election to parliament until 1919, when three women stood (unsuccessfully); see 1919 in New Zealand. The colony of
South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest o ...
allowed women to both vote and stand for election in 1894. In
Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic countries, Nordic c ...
, conditional women's suffrage was granted during the
age of liberty In Swedish and Finnish history, the Age of Liberty ( sv, frihetstiden; fi, vapauden aika) was a period that saw parliamentary governance, increasing civil rights and the decline of the Swedish Empire that began with Charles XII's death in ...
between 1718 and 1772.Karlsson Sjögren, Åsa, Männen, kvinnorna och rösträtten: medborgarskap och representation 1723–1866 en, women and suffrage: citizenship and representation 1723–1866 Carlsson, Stockholm, 2006 (in Swedish) But it was not until the year 1919 that equality was achieved, where women's votes were valued the same as men's. The Australian ''
Commonwealth Franchise Act 1902 The ''Commonwealth Franchise Act 1902'' was an Act of the Parliament of Australia which defined a uniform national criteria of who was entitled to vote in Australian federal elections. The Act established, in time for the 1903 Australian feder ...
'' enabled women to vote at federal elections and also permitted women to stand for election to the Australian Parliament, making the newly-federated country of Australia the first in the modern world to do so, although some states excluded
indigenous Australians Indigenous Australians or Australian First Nations are people with familial heritage from, and membership in, the ethnic groups that lived in Australia before British colonisation. They consist of two distinct groups: the Aboriginal peoples ...
. In 1906, the autonomous
Grand Duchy of Finland The Grand Duchy of Finland ( fi, Suomen suuriruhtinaskunta; sv, Storfurstendömet Finland; russian: Великое княжество Финляндское, , all of which literally translate as Grand Principality of Finland) was the predecess ...
, which later became the Republic of Finland, was the first country in the world to give all women and all men both the right to vote and the right to run for office. Finland was also the first country in Europe to give women the right to vote.Brief history of the Finnish Parliament
/ref>
/ref> The world's first female members of parliament were elected in Finland the following year. In Europe, the last jurisdiction to grant women the right to vote was the
Swiss Swiss may refer to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland *Swiss people Places * Swiss, Missouri *Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia *Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports * Swiss Internation ...
canton of Appenzell Innerrhoden Appenzell Innerrhoden (; in English sometimes Appenzell Inner-Rhodes) (german: Kanton Appenzell Innerrhoden rm, Chantun Appenzell Dadens; french: Canton d'Appenzell Rhodes-Intérieures; it, Canton Appenzello Interno) is one of the 26 cantons ...
(AI), in 1991; AI is the smallest Swiss canton with 14,100 inhabitants in 1990. Women in Switzerland obtained the right to vote at federal level in 1971, and at local cantonal level between 1959 and 1972, except for Appenzell in 1989/1990, see
Women's suffrage in Switzerland Women in Switzerland gained the right to vote in federal elections after a referendum in February 1971. The first federal vote in which women were able to participate was the 31 October 1971 election of the Federal Assembly. However it was no ...
. In
Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the Ara ...
women were first allowed to vote in December 2015 in the municipal elections. For other women's rights, see
timeline of women's legal rights (other than voting) Timeline of women's legal rights (other than voting) represents formal changes and reforms regarding women's rights. The changes include actual law reforms as well as other formal changes, such as reforms through new interpretations of laws by ...
.


17th century

1689 * : Female landowners are allowed to vote in elections to the States of Friesland in rural districts.


18th century

1718 * : Female taxpaying members of city
guild A guild ( ) is an association of artisans and merchants who oversee the practice of their craft/trade in a particular area. The earliest types of guild formed as organizations of tradesmen belonging to a professional association. They sometim ...
s are allowed to vote in local city elections (rescinded in 1758) and national elections (rescinded in 1772). 1734 * : Female taxpaying property owners of legal majority are allowed to vote in local countryside elections (never rescinded). 1755 * : Female suffrage in the independent republic's Diet (assembly; rescinded upon annexation by France in 1769). 1776 * (
US state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...
): later rescinded in 1807


19th century


1830s

1838 *


1840s

1840 *
Hawaiian Kingdom The Hawaiian Kingdom, or Kingdom of Hawaiʻi (Hawaiian language, Hawaiian: ''Ko Hawaiʻi Pae ʻĀina''), was a sovereign state located in the Hawaiian Islands. The country was formed in 1795, when the warrior chief Kamehameha the Great, of the ...
: later rescinded in 1852 1848 *


1850s

1853 * : The Province of Vélez, in what was then the Republic of New Granada (modern day
Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the ...
), grants universal suffrage to men and women. The
Supreme Court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...
annulled the provision for women a few years later. 1856 * following population transfer from Pitcairn.


1860s

1861 * – Australian colony of
South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest o ...
: property-owning women were given the right to vote. 1862 * : limited to local elections with votes graded after taxation; universal franchise achieved in 1919,P. Orman Ray: Woman Suffrage in Foreign Countries. The American Political Science Review. Vol. 12, No. 3 (Aug. 1918), pp. 469–474
/ref> which went into effect at the 1921 elections. * : limited to local elections, only for literate women in San Juan Province. 1863 * The
Grand Duchy of Finland The Grand Duchy of Finland ( fi, Suomen suuriruhtinaskunta; sv, Storfurstendömet Finland; russian: Великое княжество Финляндское, , all of which literally translate as Grand Principality of Finland) was the predecess ...
(): limited to taxpaying women in the countryside for municipal elections; and in 1872, extended to the cities. 1864 * – Australian colony of
Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Victoria (Australia), a state of the Commonwealth of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, provincial capital of British Columbia, Canada * Victoria (mythology), Roman goddess of Victory * Victoria, Seychelle ...
: women were unintentionally enfranchised by the ''Electoral Act'' (1863), and proceeded to vote in the following year's elections. The Act was amended in 1865 to correct the error. * – Austrian Empire: limited to taxpaying women and women in "learned professions" who were allowed to vote by proxy and made eligible for election to the legislative body in 1864. 1869 * : limited to single women ratepayers for local elections under the Municipal Franchise Act. * United States – incorporated
Territory of Wyoming The Territory of Wyoming was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from July 25, 1868, until July 10, 1890, when it was admitted to the Union as the State of Wyoming. Cheyenne was the territorial capital. The bou ...
: full suffrage for women.


1870s

1870 * United States –
Utah Territory The Territory of Utah was an organized incorporated territory of the United States that existed from September 9, 1850, until January 4, 1896, when the final extent of the territory was admitted to the Union as the State of Utah, the 45th state ...
passed a law granting women's suffrage. Utah women citizens voted in municipal elections that spring and a general election on August 1, beating Wyoming women to the polls. The women's suffrage law was later repealed as part of the
Edmunds–Tucker Act The Edmunds–Tucker Act of 1887 was an Act of Congress that focused on restricting some practices of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). An amendment to the earlier Edmunds Act, it was passed in response to the dispute ...
in 1887. * May 10, 1872,
New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
: Equal Rights Party nominates Victoria C. Woodhull as their candidate for US President.


1880s

1881 * : Female taxpayers allowed to vote in local elections (rescinded in 1895). * (self-governing British Crown dependency, with its own parliament and legal system) (limited at first to women "freeholders" and then, a few years later, extended to include women "householders"). Universal suffrage / the franchise for all resident men and women was introduced in 1919. All men and women (with a very few exceptions such as clergy) could also stand for election from 1919. 1884 * —
Canadian province Within the geographical areas of Canada, the ten provinces and three territories are sub-national administrative divisions under the jurisdiction of the Canadian Constitution. In the 1867 Canadian Confederation, three provinces of British Nor ...
: limited to widows and spinsters to vote in municipal elections; later extended to other provinces. 1888 * : Proposed Constitutional Amendment to extend suffrage and the right to hold office to women (limited to
spinsters ''Spinster'' is a term referring to an unmarried woman who is older than what is perceived as the prime age range during which women usually marry. It can also indicate that a woman is considered unlikely to ever marry. The term originally den ...
and widows who owned property). 1889 * The municipality of
Franceville Franceville is one of the four largest cities in Gabon, with a population of 110,568 at the 2013 census. It lies on the Mpassa River and at the end of the Trans-Gabon Railway and the N3 road. It grew from a village named Masuku when Pierre Sa ...
in the
New Hebrides New Hebrides, officially the New Hebrides Condominium (french: link=no, Condominium des Nouvelles-Hébrides, "Condominium of the New Hebrides") and named after the Hebrides, Hebrides Scottish archipelago, was the colonial name for the isla ...
(universal suffrage within its short existence. Loses self-rule within months)


1890s

1893 * : first self-governing colony in the world in which all women are given the right to vote in parliamentary elections. However, women were barred from standing for election until 1919.Women's Suffrage
/ref> * (British protectorate) universal suffrage. * (
US state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...
) (first state in the union to enfranchise women by popular vote) 1894 * : universal suffrage, extending the franchise from property-owning women (granted in 1861) to all women, the first colony in Australia to do so. * :
Local Government Act 1894 The Local Government Act 1894 (56 & 57 Vict. c. 73) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom that reformed local government in England and Wales outside the County of London. The Act followed the reforms carried out at county level un ...
confirms single women's right to vote in local elections and extends this franchise to some married women. By 1900, over 1 million women were registered for local government elections in England. 1895 * : South Australian women became the first in the world to stand for election. This right had been granted the previous year in an act of the South Australian Parliament. 1896 * (
US state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...
): reestablishes women's suffrage upon gaining statehood. * (
US state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...
) 1898 * :
Danske Kvindeforeningers Valgretsforbund The Danske Kvindeforeningers Valgsretsudvalg (Danish Women's Society's Suffrage Committee) was established in 1898 by Louise Nørlund, with support from Line Luplau, in order to work towards obtaining the vote for women. In 1904, the organizatio ...
(Danish Women's Society's Suffrage Union) founded in Copenhagen 1899 * : the Australian colony of Western Australia


20th century


1900s

1901 * (
Australian state The states and territories are federated administrative divisions in Australia, ruled by regional governments that constitute the second level of governance between the federal government and local governments. States are self-governing ...
): were allowed to vote in Australia's first federal election * (
Australian state The states and territories are federated administrative divisions in Australia, ruled by regional governments that constitute the second level of governance between the federal government and local governments. States are self-governing ...
): were allowed to vote in Australia's first federal election 1902 * : The ''
Commonwealth Franchise Act 1902 The ''Commonwealth Franchise Act 1902'' was an Act of the Parliament of Australia which defined a uniform national criteria of who was entitled to vote in Australian federal elections. The Act established, in time for the 1903 Australian feder ...
'' gave women the right to vote at federal elections on the same terms as men. Women in
South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest o ...
and
Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to t ...
had equal voting rights prior to
Federation A federation (also known as a federal state) is a political entity characterized by a union of partially self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a central federal government ( federalism). In a federation, the self-gover ...
on 1 January 1901, and were guaranteed the right to vote at the first federal election by
section 41 of the Constitution of Australia Section 41 of the Australian Constitution is a provision of the Constitution of Australia which states: Right of electors of States No adult person who has or acquires a right to vote at elections for the more numerous House of the Parliament ...
. Women in the other four states acquired equal voting rights with the passage of the ''Commonwealth Franchise Act''. However this excluded
indigenous Australians Indigenous Australians or Australian First Nations are people with familial heritage from, and membership in, the ethnic groups that lived in Australia before British colonisation. They consist of two distinct groups: the Aboriginal peoples ...
(both men and women) in the states of Queensland and Western Australia. The
1903 Australian federal election The 1903 Australian federal election was held in Australia on 16 December 1903. All 75 seats in the House of Representatives, and 19 of the 36 seats in the Senate were up for election. The incumbent Protectionist Party minority government led b ...
was the first under the new legislation. * (
Australian state The states and territories are federated administrative divisions in Australia, ruled by regional governments that constitute the second level of governance between the federal government and local governments. States are self-governing ...
) 1903 * (
Australian state The states and territories are federated administrative divisions in Australia, ruled by regional governments that constitute the second level of governance between the federal government and local governments. States are self-governing ...
) 1905 *
Latvia Latvia ( or ; lv, Latvija ; ltg, Latveja; liv, Leţmō), officially the Republic of Latvia ( lv, Latvijas Republika, links=no, ltg, Latvejas Republika, links=no, liv, Leţmō Vabāmō, links=no), is a country in the Baltic region of ...
,
Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War ...
* (
Australian state The states and territories are federated administrative divisions in Australia, ruled by regional governments that constitute the second level of governance between the federal government and local governments. States are self-governing ...
) (limited to non-indigenous women) 1906 *
Grand Duchy of Finland The Grand Duchy of Finland ( fi, Suomen suuriruhtinaskunta; sv, Storfurstendömet Finland; russian: Великое княжество Финляндское, , all of which literally translate as Grand Principality of Finland) was the predecess ...
() (first in Europe to give women the right to vote and stand for parliament as a result of
1905 Russian Revolution The Russian Revolution of 1905,. also known as the First Russian Revolution,. occurred on 22 January 1905, and was a wave of mass political and social unrest that spread through vast areas of the Russian Empire. The mass unrest was directed again ...
). The world's first female members of parliament were elected in Finland the following year. * : Perhaps inspired by the Franceville experiment, the Anglo-French Condominium of the New Hebrides grants women the right to vote in municipal elections and to serve on elected municipal councils. (Limited to British, French, and other colonists, and excluding indigenous women.) 1908 * (limited to local elections) * (
Australian state The states and territories are federated administrative divisions in Australia, ruled by regional governments that constitute the second level of governance between the federal government and local governments. States are self-governing ...
): last Australian state to enact equal voting rights for women in state elections.


1910s

1910 * (
US state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...
) 1911 * (
US state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...
) * :
Julieta Lanteri Julieta Lanteri (born Giulia Maddalena Angela Lanteri, March 22, 1873 — February 25, 1932) was an Italian Argentine physician, leading freethinker, and activist for women's rights in Argentina as well as for social reform generally. Early life ...
, doctor and leading feminist activist, votes in the election for the
Buenos Aires City Legislature The Buenos Aires City Legislature ( es, Legislatura de la Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires, links=no, commonly known as the ) is a central part of the Government of the City of Buenos Aires, Argentina. It is housed in the Legislature Palace ( es ...
. She had realized that the government did not make specifications regarding gender, and appealed to justice successfully, becoming the first South American woman to vote. * : Carolina Beatriz Ângelo becomes the first Portuguese woman to vote due to a legal technicality; the law is shortly thereafter altered to specify only literate male citizens over the age of 21 had the right to vote. 1912 * (
US state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...
) * (
US state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...
) * (
US state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...
) 1913 * (
US territory In the United States, a territory is any extent of region under the sovereign jurisdiction of the federal government of the United States, including all waters (around islands or continental tracts). The United States asserts sovereign rights for ...
) * 1914 * (
US state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...
) * (
US state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...
) 1915 * (including
Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its ...
) (full voting rights) 1916 * (
Canadian province Within the geographical areas of Canada, the ten provinces and three territories are sub-national administrative divisions under the jurisdiction of the Canadian Constitution. In the 1867 Canadian Confederation, three provinces of British Nor ...
) * (
Canadian province Within the geographical areas of Canada, the ten provinces and three territories are sub-national administrative divisions under the jurisdiction of the Canadian Constitution. In the 1867 Canadian Confederation, three provinces of British Nor ...
) * (
Canadian province Within the geographical areas of Canada, the ten provinces and three territories are sub-national administrative divisions under the jurisdiction of the Canadian Constitution. In the 1867 Canadian Confederation, three provinces of British Nor ...
)


1917

* (
US State In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...
) * * * (as an independent country) * * (
Canadian province Within the geographical areas of Canada, the ten provinces and three territories are sub-national administrative divisions under the jurisdiction of the Canadian Constitution. In the 1867 Canadian Confederation, three provinces of British Nor ...
) * (
Canadian province Within the geographical areas of Canada, the ten provinces and three territories are sub-national administrative divisions under the jurisdiction of the Canadian Constitution. In the 1867 Canadian Confederation, three provinces of British Nor ...
) * (limited to war widows, women serving overseas, and women with family serving overseas) *
Russian Republic The Russian Republic,. referred to as the Russian Democratic Federal Republic. in the 1918 Constitution, was a short-lived state which controlled, ''de jure'', the territory of the former Russian Empire after its proclamation by the Rus ...
* * (per Constitution) *
Crimean People's Republic The Crimean People's Republic ( crh, Qırım Halq Cumhuriyeti; uk, Кримська народна республіка, translit=Kryms'ka narodna respublika; russian: Крымская народная республика, translit=Krymskaya ...


1918

* Banat, Bačka and Baranja Women over 20 were allowed to vote on the elections for the Great National Assembly. Seven female delegates were elected. Rescindend after incorporation into
Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes Kingdom commonly refers to: * A monarchy ruled by a king or queen * Kingdom (biology), a category in biological taxonomy Kingdom may also refer to: Arts and media Television * ''Kingdom'' (British TV series), a 2007 British television drama s ...
in 1922. * (Full voting rights, The world's first democratically elected Muslim woman was from Georgia) * (
US state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...
) * (
US state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...
) * (
US state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...
) * * Tadeusz Swietochowski. Russian Azerbaijan, 1905–1920: The Shaping of a National Identity in a Muslim Community. Cambridge University Press, 2004. , p. 144 * (limited to women over 21, "not alien-born", and meeting provincially determined property qualifications) * : First four women elected to the Folketing. * (
Canadian province Within the geographical areas of Canada, the ten provinces and three territories are sub-national administrative divisions under the jurisdiction of the Canadian Constitution. In the 1867 Canadian Confederation, three provinces of British Nor ...
) * * Limited to women over the age of 24 who were literate. (full suffrage granted in 1945) * (just after regaining independence) * (
Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...
) * (
Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...
) * (limited to women over 30; conditional on ownership of property and qualifications of their husbands. Women over 21 given the franchise in 1928) * (limited to women over 30, compared to 21 for men and 19 for those who had fought in World War One; various property qualifications remained; see
Representation of the People Act 1918 The Representation of the People Act 1918 was an Act of Parliament passed to reform the electoral system in Great Britain and Ireland. It is sometimes known as the Fourth Reform Act. The Act extended the franchise in parliamentary elections, al ...
.) * The
Riksdag The Riksdag (, ; also sv, riksdagen or ''Sveriges riksdag'' ) is the legislature and the supreme decision-making body of Sweden. Since 1971, the Riksdag has been a unicameral legislature with 349 members (), elected proportionally and se ...
introduces equal voting rights in city council and municipal elections.


1919

* * (limited to voting at
municipal A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the ...
level) * * : universal suffrage to trade union members only. * : all adults could vote or be elected, widows and single women who owned property could vote from 1881. * (British Crown Colony) Limited suffrage granted to women of twenty-five years or more, who earned £50 or more per year, or paid taxes of £2. (Universal adult suffrage not granted until 1944.) * (voting at local/municipal level) * * (women gain the right to vote in an election, having been given the right to stand in elections in 1917) * (women gain the right to stand for election into parliament; right to vote for Members of Parliament since 1893) * (
Canadian province Within the geographical areas of Canada, the ten provinces and three territories are sub-national administrative divisions under the jurisdiction of the Canadian Constitution. In the 1867 Canadian Confederation, three provinces of British Nor ...
) (limited to voting. Women's right to stand for office protected in 1934) * (
US state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...
) * (British Crown Colony) (women now allowed to vote and stand for election into parliament) *
South West Caucasian Republic The Provisional National Government of the Southwestern Caucasus, Provisional National Government of South West Caucasia (Modern Turkish: ''Güneybatı Kafkas Geçici Milli Hükûmeti''; Ottoman Turkish: ''Cenub-ı Garbi Kafkas Hükûmet-i Muvak ...
* The
Riksdag The Riksdag (, ; also sv, riksdagen or ''Sveriges riksdag'' ) is the legislature and the supreme decision-making body of Sweden. Since 1971, the Riksdag has been a unicameral legislature with 349 members (), elected proportionally and se ...
takes the first out of two constitutional decisions for equal voting rights in elections to the
Riksdag The Riksdag (, ; also sv, riksdagen or ''Sveriges riksdag'' ) is the legislature and the supreme decision-making body of Sweden. Since 1971, the Riksdag has been a unicameral legislature with 349 members (), elected proportionally and se ...


1920s

1920 *
Albania Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and share ...
* (the newly adopted constitution guarantees universal suffrage incl. women and the first vote to the National Assembly is held; politically, the women's suffrage is guaranteed already in the Declaration of Independence from 1918, and women vote in local elections in 1919) * Kingdom, Princely Indian State in the British Empire. It was the first place in India to grant women's suffrage, but did not grant the right to stand in elections. * 2nd of the princely states in India to grant women enfranchisement. * (all remaining states by amendment to federal Constitution). In practice, this meant White women; Black persons, both women and men, were largely disenfranchised by unequal
literacy tests A literacy test assesses a person's literacy skills: their ability to read and write have been administered by various governments, particularly to immigrants. In the United States, between the 1850s and 1960s, literacy tests were administered t ...
in many states until the
Civil Rights Act of 1964 The Civil Rights Act of 1964 () is a landmark civil rights and labor law in the United States that outlaws discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, and national origin. It prohibits unequal application of voter registration requi ...
. 1921 * (
Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...
) *,
Madras Presidency The Madras Presidency, or the Presidency of Fort St. George, also known as Madras Province, was an administrative subdivision (presidency) of British India. At its greatest extent, the presidency included most of southern India, including the ...
was the first of the provinces in the British Raj to grant women's suffrage, though there were income and property restrictions and women were not allowed to stand for office. *,
Bombay Presidency The Bombay Presidency or Bombay Province, also called Bombay and Sind (1843–1936), was an administrative subdivision (province) of British India, with its capital in the city that came up over the seven islands of Bombay. The first mainl ...
became the second of the provinces in British India to grant the right for women to vote with income and property restrictions and an inability to stand in elections. *
Federal Republic of Central America The Federal Republic of Central America ( es, República Federal de Centroamérica), originally named the United Provinces of Central America ( es, Provincias Unidas del Centro de América), and sometimes simply called Central America, in it ...
(Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Honduras) established in the 9 September 1921 federal constitution that married or widowed literate women of 21 or more, or single literate women of 25 or more could vote or hold office as long as they met any property requirements. When the Federation fell apart the following year, women lost the right to vote. * The
Riksdag The Riksdag (, ; also sv, riksdagen or ''Sveriges riksdag'' ) is the legislature and the supreme decision-making body of Sweden. Since 1971, the Riksdag has been a unicameral legislature with 349 members (), elected proportionally and se ...
takes the second and confirming the decision to amend the Constitution such that equal voting rights are introduced in elections to the Riksdag. 1922 *, Burma Province became the third province of British India to grant limited suffrage, but not the right to stand in elections. * (equal parliamentary (
Oireachtas The Oireachtas (, ), sometimes referred to as Oireachtas Éireann, is the bicameral parliament of Ireland. The Oireachtas consists of: *The President of Ireland *The two houses of the Oireachtas ( ga, Tithe an Oireachtais): ** Dáil Éireann ...
) suffrage to that of men upon independence from UK. Partial suffrage granted as part of UK in 1918.) * became the 3rd of India's princely estates to grant women's suffrage. * (
Canadian province Within the geographical areas of Canada, the ten provinces and three territories are sub-national administrative divisions under the jurisdiction of the Canadian Constitution. In the 1867 Canadian Confederation, three provinces of British Nor ...
) * (
Mexican state The states of Mexico are first-level administrative territorial entities of the country of Mexico, which is officially named United Mexican States. There are 32 federal entities in Mexico (31 states and the capital, Mexico City, as a separate en ...
) (limited to regional and congressional elections) 1923 *,
United Provinces of Agra and Oudh The United Provinces of Agra and Oudh was a province of India under the British Raj, which existed from 1902 to 1921; the official name was shortened by the Government of India Act 1935 to United Provinces (UP), by which the province had been ...
became the 4th province in British India to grant limited suffrage, though women could not stand for office. *
Rajkot State Rajkot State was one of the princely states of India during the period of British rule. It was a 9-gun salute state belonging to the Kathiawar Agency of the Bombay Presidency. Its capital was in Rajkot, located in the historical Halar region ...
became the first princely state and first entity in British India to grant women both the right to vote and stand in elections. 1924 *, Assam Province became the 5th province in British India to grant suffrage with income and property restrictions, as well as the inability to stand for office. * (a doctor, Matilde Hidalgo de Prócel, sues and wins the right to vote) * (
Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...
) *
Kingdom of Cochin The Kingdom of Cochin, named after its capital in the city of Kochi (Cochin), was a kingdom in the central part of present-day Kerala state. It commenced at the early part of the 12th century and continued to rule until 1949, when monarchy wa ...
one of the princely states of British India granted both suffrage and the right for women to stand in elections. * (no electoral system in place prior to this year) * * (limited to single women and widows in local elections. First women mayors) * (
Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...
) 1925 *,
Bengal Presidency The Bengal Presidency, officially the Presidency of Fort William and later Bengal Province, was a subdivision of the British Empire in India. At the height of its territorial jurisdiction, it covered large parts of what is now South Asia an ...
became the 6th province in British India to grant limited suffrage without the ability for women to stand in elections. * (limited to women 25 and older; men can vote at age 21. Equal suffrage granted in 1946.) * (limited to local elections) 1926 *, Punjab Province became the 7th province in British India to grant limited suffrage without the ability for women to stand in elections. * was empowered by the British Parliament to amend the voting regulations and allow women to stand for office, if the province in which they resided granted women's suffrage. 1927 *
Central Provinces The Central Provinces was a province of British India. It comprised British conquests from the Mughals and Marathas in central India, and covered parts of present-day Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Maharashtra states. Its capital was Nagpur ...
became the 8th province in British India to grant suffrage to women. * (
Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...
) * (women's suffrage is broadcast for the first time in 1927, in the plebiscite of
Cerro Chato Cerro Chato (, ''Plain Hill'') is a town in central Uruguay that is divided in three parts belonging to Durazno Department, Florida Department, and Treinta y Tres Department. Location The town is located along Route 7, northeast by road from V ...
) 1928 * (franchise made equal to that for men by the
Representation of the People Act 1928 The Representation of the People (Equal Franchise) Act 1928 was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. This act expanded on the Representation of the People Act 1918 which had given some women the vote in Parliamentary elections for the ...
) 1929 *
Bihar and Orissa Province Bihar and Orissa was a province of British India, which included the present-day Indian states of Bihar, Jharkhand, and Odisha. The territories were conquered by the British in the 18th and 19th centuries, and were governed by the then Indian C ...
became the last of the provinces in British India to grant women's limited suffrage with income and property restrictions. * (the right of women to vote is written into the Constitution) * (literate women given the right to vote. Equal suffrage granted in 1935.) * (limited to local elections only, with restrictions)


1930s

1930 * (
Women's Enfranchisement Act, 1930 The Women's Enfranchisement Act, 1930, was an act of the Parliament of South Africa which granted white women aged 21 and older the right to vote and to run for office. It also had the effect of diluting the limited voting power of non-white p ...
: limited to white women on the same basis as white men.) * (limited to municipal elections). 1931 * (Modern day
Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...
) (Universal Suffrage) * (limited to municipal level for female owners of real estate under Legislative Decree No. 320) * (with unequal restrictions regarding level of education) * (universal suffrage) 1932 * (universal suffrage) * * 1934 * (limited to municipal level under Law No. 5,357) * * (suffrage is expanded) * (
Mexican state The states of Mexico are first-level administrative territorial entities of the country of Mexico, which is officially named United Mexican States. There are 32 federal entities in Mexico (31 states and the capital, Mexico City, as a separate en ...
) (limited to regional and congress elections only) * (parliamentary elections; full voting rights and rights to be elected for any public office including the National Parliament, which resulted in 18 female members of the parliament to stand for office from 18 different provinces in the 1935 National Parliament elections). 1935 * *
British Burma British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...
(women are granted the right to vote) * (equal suffrage at
local elections In many parts of the world, local elections take place to select office-holders in local government, such as mayors and councillors. Elections to positions within a city or town are often known as "municipal elections". Their form and conduct v ...
; partial suffrage as part of the UK from 1869, extended in 1918.) 1937 * (limited to mothers with legitimate children voting in local elections) * (for European women only) * 1938 * * (
Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...
) * (European women) 1939 * (with restrictions requiring literacy and a higher age) * (women are granted suffrage on equal terms with men with restrictions on both men and women; in practice the restrictions affected women more than men) * (white women)


1940s

1940 * (
Canadian province Within the geographical areas of Canada, the ten provinces and three territories are sub-national administrative divisions under the jurisdiction of the Canadian Constitution. In the 1867 Canadian Confederation, three provinces of British Nor ...
) * (Soviet Union) (as part of Romania, partial suffrage from 1929, extended in 1939) 1941 * (limited to European women only) * (with restrictions. Full suffrage granted in 1946.) 1942 * 1944 * (limited to property-holding women) * (full rights) 1945 * * * (Literate only) * * * * French Togoland * 1946 * *
French Somaliland French Somaliland (french: Côte française des Somalis, lit= French Coast of the Somalis so, Xeebta Soomaaliyeed ee Faransiiska) was a French colony in the Horn of Africa. It existed between 1884 and 1967, at which time it became the French Te ...
* *
North Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu (Amnok) and T ...
* ( Americo women only; indigenous men and women were not enfranchised until 1951) * * (expands suffrage) * (extended to full rights) * * 1947 * * (includes
Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the no ...
: with restrictions) * * (limited to
municipal A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the ...
level) * (establishment of the state) * * (establishment of the state) * 1948 * adopted The
Universal Declaration of Human Rights The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) is an international document adopted by the United Nations General Assembly that enshrines the rights and freedoms of all human beings. Drafted by a UN committee chaired by Eleanor Roosevelt ...
Article 21 * * (establishment of the state) * * (first ever free elections were held in 2005) * * Dutch Surinam 1949 * (right expanded to all elections on January 8 by Law No. 9,292) * * (establishment of the state) * *


1950s

1950 * * (all restrictions removed) * 1951 * * * * * * * 1952 * enacts
Convention on the Political Rights of Women The Convention on the Political Rights of Women was approved by the United Nations General Assembly during the 409th plenary meeting, on 20 December 1952, and adopted on 31 March 1953. The Convention's purpose is to codify a basic international ...
* * * 1953 * * * (all women and for national elections) 1954 * * 1955 * * * (as part of Ethiopia) * * * * 1956 * * * * * * 1957 * (by constitution) * * * (nationwide) 1958 * * * * * (South) 1959 * * ( Swiss canton) * ( Swiss canton) * * * * *


1960s

1960 * * * ( Swiss canton) * 1961 * * * * * * 1962 * * (universal suffrage
Australian Aboriginals Aboriginal Australians are the various Indigenous peoples of the Australian mainland and many of its islands, such as Tasmania, Fraser Island, Hinchinbrook Island, the Tiwi Islands, and Groote Eylandt, but excluding the Torres Strait Isla ...
men and women) * * (revoked) (including men) * * * 1963 * * * * (after a
referendum A referendum (plural: referendums or less commonly referenda) is a Direct democracy, direct vote by the Constituency, electorate on a proposal, law, or political issue. This is in contrast to an issue being voted on by a Representative democr ...
) * * 1964 * * * (
Territory of Papua The Territory of Papua comprised the southeastern quarter of the island of New Guinea from 1883 to 1975. In 1883, the Government of Queensland annexed this territory for the British Empire. The United Kingdom Government refused to ratify the a ...
and
Territory of New Guinea The Territory of New Guinea was an Australian-administered United Nations trust territory on the island of New Guinea from 1914 until 1975. In 1949, the Territory and the Territory of Papua were established in an administrative union by the na ...
) * 1965 * * * (all restrictions removed). 1966 * ( Swiss canton) 1967 * * (women's vote made obligatory, like that of men's) * * * 1968 * ( Swiss canton) * (universal) * * (systemic limitations remained due to the general rule of being able to read)


1970s

1970 * * 1971 * (federal level) 1972 * (suffrage enshrined in constitution adopted after independence) (For pre 1971 rights see British Raj 1935 and East/West Pakistan 1947.) 1973 * (Bahrain did not hold elections until 2002) 1974 * * 1975 * * * * * 1976 * Timor Timur (
Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Gui ...
) * (general restriction to be able to read was lifted after the democratication by the
Carnation Revolution The Carnation Revolution ( pt, Revolução dos Cravos), also known as the 25 April ( pt, 25 de Abril, links=no), was a military coup by left-leaning military officers that overthrew the authoritarian Estado Novo regime on 25 April 1974 in Lisbo ...
) 1977 * 1978 * * * (North) *


1980s

1984 * 1985 * (first time) 1986 * 1989 * (universal suffrage)


1990s

1991 * ( Swiss canton) was forced to accept women's suffrage by the
Federal Supreme Court of Switzerland The Federal Supreme Court of Switzerland (german: Bundesgericht, french: Tribunal fédéral, it, Tribunale federale, rm, ) is the supreme court of the Swiss Confederation and at the head of the Swiss judiciary. The Federal Supreme Court ...
* (universal suffrage) 1996 * (revoked) 1997 * 1999 * * (revoked)


21st century


2000s

2001 * (re-granted after the fall of
Taliban The Taliban (; ps, طالبان, ṭālibān, lit=students or 'seekers'), which also refers to itself by its state (polity), state name, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, is a Deobandi Islamic fundamentalism, Islamic fundamentalist, m ...
) 2003 * 2005 * 2006 * (UAE) (limited suffrage for both men and women).


2010s

2015 * ( introduced along with right to run for municipal elections)


2020s

2021 * (restricting previous full right, allowing "temporarily" limited voting rights) Note: In some countries, both men and women have limited suffrage. For example, in
Brunei Brunei ( , ), formally Brunei Darussalam ( ms, Negara Brunei Darussalam, Jawi: , ), is a country located on the north coast of the island of Borneo in Southeast Asia. Apart from its South China Sea coast, it is completely surrounded by th ...
, which is a
sultanate This article includes a list of successive Islamic states and Muslim dynasties beginning with the time of the Islamic prophet Muhammad (570–632 CE) and the early Muslim conquests that spread Islam outside of the Arabian Peninsula, and continuin ...
, there are no national elections, and voting exists only on local issues. In the
United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE; ar, اَلْإِمَارَات الْعَرَبِيَة الْمُتَحِدَة ), or simply the Emirates ( ar, الِْإمَارَات ), is a country in Western Asia (Middle East, The Middle East). It is ...
the rulers of the seven emirates each select a proportion of voters for the Federal National Council (FNC) that together account for about 12% of Emirati citizens.


See also

*
Timeline of first women's suffrage in majority-Muslim countries This timeline lists the dates of the first women's suffrage in Muslim majority countries. Dates for the right to vote, suffrage, as distinct from the right to stand for election and hold office, are listed. Some countries with majority Muslim ...
* Timeline of women's suffrage in the United States *
Timeline of women's legal rights (other than voting) Timeline of women's legal rights (other than voting) represents formal changes and reforms regarding women's rights. The changes include actual law reforms as well as other formal changes, such as reforms through new interpretations of laws by ...
*
List of the first female holders of political offices in Europe This is a list of political offices which have been held by a woman, with details of the first woman holder of each office. It is ordered by the countries in Europe and by dates of appointment. Please observe that this list is meant to conta ...
*
List of the first female members of parliament by country This is a list of the first female members of parliament in each country and territory. Princess Isabel of Brazil could have become the first female parliamentarian in 1871, as the Brazilian constitution reserved a seat in the Senate for the heir ...
* List of suffragists and suffragettes *
List of women's rights activists This article is a list of notable women's rights activists, arranged alphabetically by modern country names and by the names of the persons listed. Afghanistan * Amina Azimi – disabled women's rights advocate * Hasina Jalal – women's empower ...
* List of women pacifists and peace activists * Women's suffrage organizations


References

* https://web.archive.org/web/20070610120752/http://www.hist.uu.se/historikermote05/program/Politik/52_Karlsson_Sjogren.pdf * www.iraqinationality.gov.iq/attach/iraqi_constitution.pdf


External links


Google Spreadsheet with map
��above timeline data has been tabulated and can be viewed on a world map for any given year. {{Feminism
Women's suffrage Women's suffrage is the right of women to vote in elections. Beginning in the start 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 vot ...
Timelines of women in history es:Sufragio femenino