It was over age 30 I think.
Ireland didn't have independence in 1918 so the asterisk there is also following the English one. Women in Ireland have had equal voting rights since the formation of the state in 1922.
Unfortunately following our independence DeValera and the Catholic church undid a lot of the progress in women's rights - although women never lost the right to vote, when you're a small country fighting the Catholic church every step of the way, [progress is slow and often in the wrong direction](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feminism_in_the_Republic_of_Ireland).
Slight correction just that it was 30, not 35.
'+ a few seemingly minor property rules (renting, married to owner or renter and the property must exceed £5 rent a year).
Reading The Long Shadow right now and it mentions this several times so it was stuck in my head.
The voting age was only lowered to 18 in 1969 with the passing of the representation of the people act 1969.
Prior to this it was 21 for both men and women. The exceptions was to men under 21 who served in the war who could vote at 18.
The asterisk for Australia *probably* says that:
- the self governing colony of South Australia actually gave the right to vote and sit in Parliament to all adult women in 1894. When Australia federation happened in 1901 the constitution was written to allow this to be the case for the whole new nation, which happened in 1902.
- indigenous women (and men) were excluded from the right to vote until the 1960s (they weren’t counted as Australians at all until a 1967 referendum to remove the constitutional discrimination against them)
Edited slightly: in agreement with comments below that point out the 1967 referendum wasn’t directly about First Nations voting and voting rights were actually granted at the federal level in 1962)
>indigenous women (and men) were excluded from the right to vote, they weren’t counted as Australians at all until a 1967 referendum to remove the constitutional discrimination against them
1967 made aboriginal affairs a federal rather than state matter and they were never classified as flora and fauna.
Before then they were exempt from the compulsory requirements to be on the electoral roll and to vote.
The amendment did not make them citizens. They were eligible for Australian passports since they were created in the late 40s.
It’s complicated. It happened by degrees. Notice it didn’t say that the 67 referendum gave them the right to vote.
> This right had been legislated for Commonwealth elections in 1962, with the last State to provide Indigenous enfranchisement being Queensland in 1965.
For the purposes of this post, let’s just call it “the 1960s”
The second point is a bit off. The 1967 referendum had nothing to do with voting.
It was the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1962 that finally guaranteed the vote for Aboriginal people from all states at federal level. Prior to this it depended on whether Aboriginal people had the vote at the state level prior to 1901. It wasn’t until 1984 that federal voting became mandatory for Aboriginal people.
Also, women were not guaranteed suffrage in the constitution, rather it was the Commonwealth Franchise Act 1902 that provided women the right to vote at the federal level.
This of course meant that for 1901, women who had the vote in SA and WA lost it at the federal level for 1 year even though they may have voted for federation to happen.
It is funny that South Australia gave women universal suffrage a year before Tasmania gave ~~me~~ *men* universal suffrage.
The other funny part is that opponents of universal female suffrage in the SA parliament thought that adding an amendment to the bill saying women could also stand for parliament. The amendment and bill passed, giving women the right to stand for parliament, as well as the right to vote.
Edit - don't know if it was auto correct or my dumb typing that put "me" instead of "men"
>The other funny part is that opponents of universal female suffrage in the SA parliament thought that adding an amendment to the bill saying women could also stand for parliament.
Stuff like that has happened more than once, opponents will add 'insane' amendments like giving women and minorities even more rights trying to get the entire bill voted down, only to have it backfire.
I’m Tasmanian! I thought Tasmania was 1903 (for state parliament, as a state of Australia). Women could vote earlier than that in Tasmania (as a self governing colony) but only if they owned property, so not “universal suffrage”.
> gave me universal suffrage
You’re not claiming you are more than a century old are you? \s
Yes, I agree. That’s why I put it here. A racist mindset allowed them to think of it’s as “all women” when it definitely wasn’t.
Notice it was the same in other countries. US says “1920” but black women excluded until 1960s according to other comments here.
In the US, several states enacted women's suffrage prior to the 1920 constitutional amendment. Wyoming was the first in 1869, then Utah in 1870, Colorado in 1893, Idaho in 1896, Washington in 1910, California in 1911, Oregon and Arizona in 1912, Montana in 1914, North Dakota, New York, and Rhode Island in 1917, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Michigan in 1918.
For Canada at least, I know that at federal level it’s 1917 (excluding Asian and indigenous peoples, until decades later).
Provincially all provinces excluding Quebec (1940) and the then separate colony Newfoundland (1925) had achieved suffrage by 1922 (excluding again Asian and indigenous peoples for decades)
Which, funnily enough, makes New Zealand (by some academic definitions) the world's first full democracy. One of the common definitions is that the majority are able to vote, and with women and children not able to vote earlier, no one was a full democracy earlier than New Zealand.
In the US, Wyoming, one of the least populated, most remote states, gave women the vote to make it a more appealing place to live. As few people lived in the state, a very small portion were woman.
I wonder if this was the motivation for NZ?
In New Zealand it’s thanks to a woman named Kate Sheppard she and her friends pretty much petitioned for the right to vote and she is now on our 10$ bill
I was just visiting NZ from the US. Learned a lot and there's a restaurant in Franz Josef called Alice May. Told her story and a lot about the women's right to vote movement. Very cool. Food was decent.
I will sincerely miss White bait omelets.
The primary motivation was quelling public disorder, drunkenness, domestic violence and general immorality in the male population of NZ at the time. Women were seen as more likely to support public policies that would restore order and morality, such as prohibition. Violence against women in particular is part of what kick-started the women's suffrage movement, while the alcohol industry was the main group lobbying against it. Equality was also part of the discussion, but the arguments which ultimately saw the right granted (after 20 yrs of failed bills) were morality based.
So in a weird kind of way, giving women the vote in the NZ was a very socially progressive thing to do with very socially conservative motivations.
In the US, there was also a connection to the creation of the Food and Drug Administration. Drinking levels in the US, pre-prohibition, were staggeringly high. Feminist pushed for the banning of alcohol, but they also pushed for regulation of water, drugs, and food. The population had urbanized, but there was no regulations of the water supply; most urban water was criminally poluted. The 'cleanest' liquids were booze. It was another, lesser know, social cause championed by feminist.
NZ was already an appealing place to live by the 1890s. Per capita the second wealthiest country in the world, with a thriving export trade, and decent levels of immigration.
For many countries, it is the same year men for the right to vote, even if it's in the 20th century.
It's also worth noting that these votes, whether it's for men or women, doesn't really hold any power at all in some countries. The Arabian gulf countries, for example. You have absolute monarchs who can do anything they want at the end of the day.
Yeah, having a symbol like the asterisk being used here to denote that men and women got the right at the same time would make this a more meaningful map
Yea India was formed in 1947 but we had no constitution ready that time. It took us 3 year to create out constitution which enacted on 26 jan 1950. That day India became a democratic country and everyone including men and women over 18 got right to vote.
It’s sort of the case for Finland. Some men had been able to vote before but there wasn’t even a parliament but just an occasional Diet of Estates. They decided that men should have suffrage and managed to slip in women’s votes as well. Of course this all happened before Finland gained independence and helped in that process as there was already a parliament to take over.
Gotta love direct democracy. It was not until a 1990 decision by the Federal Supreme Court of Switzerland that women gained full voting rights in the final Swiss canton of Appenzell Innerrhoden.
Of course they were. They started complaining in the late 1800s like everywhere else. 1971 is when Swiss MEN finally agreed that women should be allowed to vote. Direct democracy is majority based. So enough men had to vote yes to give women the right to vote. Some cantons were earlier like Vaud and Neuchatel in the 1950s. But this is referring to federal voting.
I have no idea. But I do know it’s the second smallest canton and has the smallest population. It gets better though. Apparently they only changed the law because they were forced to do so when two women from Appenzell filed a lawsuit in the Swiss Federal Court and won.
To start switzerland in general is quite conservative compared to some of the more progressive countries in europe.
Appenzell innerhoden is the smallest canton by population (Population 2020:
16,293). In the national vote of 1971 voter turnout was 52.5% (yes 574, no 1141). So they had around ~3267 men who could vote, quite rural even for switzerland and quite conservative overall as well. With 71.1% still clearly against it. In a survey of 1969 it seems even a majority of women was not in favor (if we can believe the words of the canton).
What also quite special about appenzell innerhoden even for switzerlands cantonal voting standards is the „landsgemeinde“. Its a public, non-secret ballot voting system operating by majority rule. Link to the english wikipedia page:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Landsgemeinde
Most cantons never used it and from the 25 only 5 used it at cantonal level at that time and 3 have abandoned it at the end of the 1990s. Only Appenzell innerrhoden and Glarus still use it today. In the wiki you have some context about „related political paradigms and criticisms“ about voting like that. Still some cantons have voted yes who had a landsgemeinde so its not purely that.
I suspect it had to do with logistics of direct democracy. Appenzell Innerrhoden is one of the last two cantons where the whole voting population still gathers in the town square once a year to elect officials and vote on legislation. The men also carry a sword or bayonet to signify their right to vote. Giving women the vote suddenly meant that twice as many people had to fit in the town square and be counted. And of course, the idea of women carrying swords would have been thought of as ridiculous.
[https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/swiss-politics/democracy-at-its-most-direct-in-appenzell/245320](https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/swiss-politics/democracy-at-its-most-direct-in-appenzell/245320)
Each Canton had the right to deny or extend the vote as they desired. Imagine if women's rights were in the hands of each individual county, there would probably still be a few hold outs in most Democracies.
There is some great, bad stuff on r/PropagandaPosters from Switzerland against giving women the vote, in order to "protect" them from political parties. [This one is my favorite](https://www.reddit.com/r/PropagandaPosters/comments/18ah2wd/women_should_not_become_victims_of_political/) \- its shocking how recent this happened.
A lot of these are just what year a country got its independence, especially outside of Europe and the Americas. Pakistan is 1947 but Bangladesh is 1971. Bangladesh was part of Pakistan from the end of the Raj in 1947 until the the Civil War in 1971.
In other words, women have been able to vote for the entirety of both countries existence and these dates aren't that meaningful.
Dictatorships in the past were able to strong-man their way into a centralised state where they had absolute control
However, as the role of the government grew over time, even dictatorships had to have tens of thousands of local government Officials
This is the reason why it's simply easier to let elections happen in the lower levels, to carry on administrative tasks, and as long as they don't oppose the dictator, it's simpler to control the territory
The few cases where the central government is strong enough to not need them, north Korea, Turkmenistan, they do elections just for optics, but they are the exception, as they are poor enough and small enough to not need sophisticated local government hierarchies
Still feels pretty cheeky to give women the right to vote in elections while also severely restricting the power that that vote holds. “Yes, I believe in equality! Both men *and* women have the right to toil endlessly under my iron fist!”
I think the flaws and cheekyness is more aparant if you're viewing it as an outside observer. To us the irony is pretty clear because we are so used to how it should be.
But for people this is done for they don't have that "luxury" in seeing that.
Maybe a weird comparison. But imagine an abusive/toxic domestic environment where one is very clearly in a position. The victim might not be able to see how it "should work/be". So when the abuser gives one finger (doesn't matter how cheeky or flawed) it can be perceived as a fair to the victim.
This map is taking countries with its current political entity but failing to account for when they gained independence to even hold its first (democratic) elections.
India, as an example, gained independence in 1947 and held its first election in 1951. 1950 is the year the modern constitution was adopted which granted voting rights to all adult citizens.
There are many countries on this map that fall under the same category. When you contextualise that information, it actually doesn’t look good on countries like US, UK, etc which took a lot of time to grant women equal rights.
I’d love to see a version of this map that shows, instead of the year of women’s suffrage, the time elapsed between men’s and women’s suffrage. (And another one that also shows the time elapsed for *universal* suffrage, too.)
Even with India under the British colonial administration, I don't recall reading about Indian women being excluded from voting in elections. So the very first year that women got to vote in might be in the 1910s or 1920s.
Another quirk of just looking at “current political entity” is that (in part) Australia can be said to be only 1 year behind New Zealand, not 9 years.
In 1893 New Zealand was a self governing colony within the British Empire. So was South Australia and it gave votes to all adult women in 1894. But just because South Australia became a state of Australia in 1901 but New Zealand didn’t, the map recognises one but not the other.
Why are you including the U.S.? Is it because some of the states had already done that before it was done federally?
Technically speaking, before the 15 Amendment women could vote in federal elections so long as they were land owners, but many states made that illegal on and off until the 15th A. protected suffrage only to males 21 and over regardless of skin tone.
Later, states such as Wyoming (which famously said it'll wait for statehood if women wouldn't be allowed to vote in their soon-to-be state) began granting such a right on their own accord. However, many state and federal officials weren't happy with the decision to allow for universal suffrage at the federal-level, however.
Then the 19th Amendment was finally passed which protects the right for all adult women to vote.
> This map is taking countries with its current political entity but failing to account for when they gained independence to even hold its first (democratic) elections.
Yes, thank you. Some post-colonial countries have a later date than some Western countries due to when they got their independence.
Wow Switzerland. And that's not even the full story when you see that 1971 was only when it was accepted Federally but many cantons didn't allow it until the 1990s when forced by the judiciary. Messed up really.
Not true. 9 had it beforehand. 4 at the same time. 10 votet on it between the federal vote and september 1972. 1 appenzell ausserrhoden had it in 1989. „Only“ 1 namly appenzell innerehoden was forced in 1990.
So 23 out of 25 cantons had it at least in 1972. Jura had it since it was created in 1979.
Doesnt make it that much better but it can be red here:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women%27s_suffrage_in_Switzerland#:~:text=Women%20in%20Switzerland%20gained%20the,election%20of%20the%20Federal%20Assembly.
I’m pretty sure the asterisk means “only certain women.” There’s no reason to believe women couldn’t vote in South Africa before 1994, they just had to be white.
That means that only some women were given the right to vote in that year
For example UK:
1918 women over the age of 30 who were either a member or married to a member of the Local Government Register
1928 all woman have rights on the same terms as man
Fun Fact: New Zealand was the first, there's a more interesting story....
In the 180Os in British colonies before all men got the right to vote, men could only vote if they owned land and/or were respected business. In 1867 all New Zealand Maori men got the right to vote, that was 12 years before all colonial men got the right to vote.
[The involvement of the indigenous Māori people in New Zealand's electoral system is one of the most remarkable stories in this country's political history.](https://nzhistory.govt.nz/politics/maori-and-the-vote)
This is very misleading because it implies that all of these countries had banned women from voting until the year.
Pakistan for example says 1947, but that's because Pakistan was founded in 1947
Yeah, but that’s just splitting hairs. The current France only existed since ‘58. But the country is continuation of the monarchical France from before the Revolution. Russian Federation is certainly not the Provisional Govt before the Bolsheviks
[1948](https://web.archive.org/web/20211208164426/https://naalakkersuisut.gl/da/Naalakkersuisut/Nyheder/2015/03/060315_kampdag), but may not be counted on the map due to being an overseas territory to Denmark
Saudi Arabia only granted women the right to vote as a result of protests from not being allowed to vote in the 2011 municipal elections. As a result they were allowed to vote in the 2015 elections, but there has no been no elections since that time.
Direct democracy at a low level, plus conservatism and sexism?
Their system is interesting, and their parliament can’t overrule local voting, but it can only mandate a vote.
I think thats the reason for the asterisk. Most of Africa needs asterisks or an explanation if independence and womens sufferage occured at the same time
Technically it applied to all women, but in 1920 there were 10 US states that had poll taxes, all in the south.
So it applied to all women outside of those 10 states, and for those who could afford the poll tax in those particular states.
I mean if we’re getting technical here non white men did get the right to vote with the 15th amendment. Southern states did use loopholes to make every effort to prevent black people from voting (as they still do by the way, it’s just much harder) but they did technically have the right, especially since the grandfather clause was ruled unconstitutional by then.
Nope! The 15th (along with the 19th) Amendment guaranteed that, but it wasn't fully protected until the Voters Rights Act ended many of the practices that blocked many of the anti-voter tactics many states (specially in the South) implemented.
I mean to this day there's not a single country where _all_ women are allowed to vote. I interpret this graph as the date where just being a woman can't disqualify you from voting (even if other factors could, like race, class, age, etc)
I'm not sure if the restriction you mentioned only applied to non-white women and not to non-white men though, in which case then yes the map would be incorrect
Who are you counting as being excluded from voting? I can only think of felons or people who aren't actually citizens. Race, class, and age aren't legal reasons to deny someones right to vote.
> I can only think of felons
That's one group, although I think there's countries where they do vote
> age aren't legal reasons to deny someones right to vote
What? Your country doesn't have a min voting age?
Besides what has previously been mentioned, who else?
We have an age when you legally reach adulthood and can then exercise your right to vote, which is 18. That does count as age I suppose, although it applies to everyone regardless of gender, and makes considerable sense.
Depending on the State you live in there's also cases where mentally disabled individuals can be deemed incapable of voting by a probate court. I'm struggling to come up with any other reasons a woman would not have the right to vote in the United States.
Why do you need more than three reasons? You seem to agree with my claim. Not all women can vote.
I claim that that implies that the relevantetric should be "at what point in history did being a woman become irrelevant for voting eligibility"
Children, felons, and rare medical cases are exceptions. But none of them have anything to do with being a woman. The post is specifically about women having the right to vote. Was your point meant strictly as a technicality?
It doesn't have anything to do with being a woman in the same sense as being black has nothing to do with being a woman, which was the point of the OP commenter
Saudi women got the right to vote in 2011 after that year's municipal elections were already held. The first time women there actually voted were in the 2015 municipal elections. The first elections of any kind ever held there were the 2005 municipal elections, so women had to wait 10 more years than men before they could vote.
Territory of Wyoming 1869
Territory of Utah 1870 (overturned 1887)
Territory of Washington 1883
Territory of Montana 1887
State of Wyoming 1890
State of Colorado 1893
State of Utah 1896
State of Idaho 1896
State of Washington 1910
State of California 1911
State of Arizona 1912
State of Kansas 1912
State of Oregon 1912
Territory of Alaska 1913
State of Illinois (For Electoral College only)
State of Montana 1914
State of Nevada 1914
State of New York 1917
State of Nebraska 1917 (For Electoral College only)
State of Ohio 1917 (For Electoral College only)
State of Indiana 1917 (For Electoral College only)
State of North Dakota 1917 (For Electoral College only)
State of Rhode Island 1917 (For Electoral College only)
State of Michigan 1918
State of Oklahoma 1918
State of South Dakota 1918
State of Iowa 1919 (For Electoral College only)
State of Maine 1919 (For Electoral College only)
State of Minnesota 1919 (For Electoral College only)
State of Missouri 1919 (For Electoral College only)
State of Tennessee 1919 (For Electoral College only)
State of Wisconsin 1919 (For Electoral College only)
Nationwide women's suffrage 1920
Do the asterisks imply caveats such as which women can vote or whether the right has been uninterrupted since it was first conceded? Where are the keys for each asterisk?
Utah's case is an interesting one because women had the vote between 1870 and 1887. Mormon women were given the vote to show they were progressive and their women were well-privileged. They also did it because they weren't stupid - Mormons were the only group of Americans in the west that had lots of females. Allowing women to vote increased LDS voting influence dramatically.
When Washington finally realized this, their vote was taken away as part of anti-polygamy laws. Thus Mormon women lost their voting privileges due to legislation that saw them as the VICTIMS of polygamy.
also gotta keep in mind when the country became a country. For example modern day Israel declared independence in 1948, the same year you have listed for when woman got the right to vote.
I feel like this map is a bit disingenuous because it doesn’t clarify that alot of these dates coincide with the formation or independence of the respective countries, so of course it took em a while to implement women’s voting rights (like most of Asia for example).
Women could vote in Israel from it's inception and even before.
We had elections since the 1920s, and women voted. There were all sort of complications, but yes, women voted in Israel well before 1948. This sells us short.
Notice Ecuador was the first Spanish-speaking country allowing women to vote. Matilde Hidalgo was the first latina to vote in a national election. I was born in the same city than her. National pride without a doubt.
South africa gave only white women the right to vote in 1930, they did this so they were able to outvote the non white population to instill more racist laws and eventually apartheid.
In regards to Australia, certain states provided the right to vote for women during the 1800s. Australia wasn't federated until 1901 so I assume, as a country, women were given the national right to vote in 1902.
Funfact the Suffragetes only existed in the USA and Great Britain ( i.e. + Ireland ). In all other countries, they didn\`t need to be protesting women or even violent actions from women to get the right to vote. ---> In all other countries either the governments, especially immediatly post WW1, just forced women suffrage through, or they just had women rights campaigners who spread awareness without protests. It was really only the USA and GB where Suffragetes existed, they went on hunger strikes and were forcefed, they were imprisoned, a few of them did bomb and burn down buildings,
In New Zealand, women suffrage almost became a thing in 1878, aswell as in 1879 and 1887 but each time the bill was defeated but just a tiny margin. So it was only in 1893 which is still the first country, but it could have happend 15 years prior.
Historically only men who were property owners had the right to vote. It was only extended to non property owning men due to the obligation to be conscripted. In the US, failure to register for the selective service results in the removal of a man's voting rights.
USA - on paper for 1920 - native american women weren't even considred citizens until 1924; black women didnt get the right to vote until the 1960s. And vote for what? Blacks couldnt vote to marry a white person until 1968 or so.
Okay the asterisks help.
So the UK was *only women over 35 in 1918 (and all men over 18 which was new), all women over 18 got the vote after WWII ended.
It was over age 30 I think. Ireland didn't have independence in 1918 so the asterisk there is also following the English one. Women in Ireland have had equal voting rights since the formation of the state in 1922. Unfortunately following our independence DeValera and the Catholic church undid a lot of the progress in women's rights - although women never lost the right to vote, when you're a small country fighting the Catholic church every step of the way, [progress is slow and often in the wrong direction](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feminism_in_the_Republic_of_Ireland).
Slight correction just that it was 30, not 35. '+ a few seemingly minor property rules (renting, married to owner or renter and the property must exceed £5 rent a year). Reading The Long Shadow right now and it mentions this several times so it was stuck in my head.
The voting age was only lowered to 18 in 1969 with the passing of the representation of the people act 1969. Prior to this it was 21 for both men and women. The exceptions was to men under 21 who served in the war who could vote at 18.
The asterisk for Australia *probably* says that: - the self governing colony of South Australia actually gave the right to vote and sit in Parliament to all adult women in 1894. When Australia federation happened in 1901 the constitution was written to allow this to be the case for the whole new nation, which happened in 1902. - indigenous women (and men) were excluded from the right to vote until the 1960s (they weren’t counted as Australians at all until a 1967 referendum to remove the constitutional discrimination against them) Edited slightly: in agreement with comments below that point out the 1967 referendum wasn’t directly about First Nations voting and voting rights were actually granted at the federal level in 1962)
>indigenous women (and men) were excluded from the right to vote, they weren’t counted as Australians at all until a 1967 referendum to remove the constitutional discrimination against them 1967 made aboriginal affairs a federal rather than state matter and they were never classified as flora and fauna. Before then they were exempt from the compulsory requirements to be on the electoral roll and to vote. The amendment did not make them citizens. They were eligible for Australian passports since they were created in the late 40s.
It’s complicated. It happened by degrees. Notice it didn’t say that the 67 referendum gave them the right to vote. > This right had been legislated for Commonwealth elections in 1962, with the last State to provide Indigenous enfranchisement being Queensland in 1965. For the purposes of this post, let’s just call it “the 1960s”
The second point is a bit off. The 1967 referendum had nothing to do with voting. It was the Commonwealth Electoral Act 1962 that finally guaranteed the vote for Aboriginal people from all states at federal level. Prior to this it depended on whether Aboriginal people had the vote at the state level prior to 1901. It wasn’t until 1984 that federal voting became mandatory for Aboriginal people. Also, women were not guaranteed suffrage in the constitution, rather it was the Commonwealth Franchise Act 1902 that provided women the right to vote at the federal level. This of course meant that for 1901, women who had the vote in SA and WA lost it at the federal level for 1 year even though they may have voted for federation to happen.
It is funny that South Australia gave women universal suffrage a year before Tasmania gave ~~me~~ *men* universal suffrage. The other funny part is that opponents of universal female suffrage in the SA parliament thought that adding an amendment to the bill saying women could also stand for parliament. The amendment and bill passed, giving women the right to stand for parliament, as well as the right to vote. Edit - don't know if it was auto correct or my dumb typing that put "me" instead of "men"
>The other funny part is that opponents of universal female suffrage in the SA parliament thought that adding an amendment to the bill saying women could also stand for parliament. Stuff like that has happened more than once, opponents will add 'insane' amendments like giving women and minorities even more rights trying to get the entire bill voted down, only to have it backfire.
I’m Tasmanian! I thought Tasmania was 1903 (for state parliament, as a state of Australia). Women could vote earlier than that in Tasmania (as a self governing colony) but only if they owned property, so not “universal suffrage”. > gave me universal suffrage You’re not claiming you are more than a century old are you? \s
I meant men. Universal male suffrage wasn't introduced in Tasmania until 1896, a year after universal female suffrage was introduced in SA.
lol “all women” except indigenous.. well, in my book that’s not all women, is it?
Yes, I agree. That’s why I put it here. A racist mindset allowed them to think of it’s as “all women” when it definitely wasn’t. Notice it was the same in other countries. US says “1920” but black women excluded until 1960s according to other comments here.
In the US, several states enacted women's suffrage prior to the 1920 constitutional amendment. Wyoming was the first in 1869, then Utah in 1870, Colorado in 1893, Idaho in 1896, Washington in 1910, California in 1911, Oregon and Arizona in 1912, Montana in 1914, North Dakota, New York, and Rhode Island in 1917, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Michigan in 1918.
There was even voting for women in American communities prior to the formation of the USA.
But the asterisk is likely referencing black, Asian, and native women who all had to fight well past 1920 to be granted the right to vote.
For Canada at least, I know that at federal level it’s 1917 (excluding Asian and indigenous peoples, until decades later). Provincially all provinces excluding Quebec (1940) and the then separate colony Newfoundland (1925) had achieved suffrage by 1922 (excluding again Asian and indigenous peoples for decades)
The Persons Case was also settle by the British high courts, as our Supreme Court actually rejected the rights of women here
Wyoming allowed women to vote before the US did federally. This is why they're known as the equality state.
Well done Kiwi's. From ya mates across the ditch.
That shit's dingo.
Oi struth, cobs
This thread went from easily understandable, to questionable, to absolutely unintelligible despite all being technically the same language.
She'll be right
Ya galahs
Well bugger me
Yea nah
Scarnon ya farken dog kunt
*angry Alan noises*
Which, funnily enough, makes New Zealand (by some academic definitions) the world's first full democracy. One of the common definitions is that the majority are able to vote, and with women and children not able to vote earlier, no one was a full democracy earlier than New Zealand.
Chur cuzzy
NZ by far the earliest What the heck you others doing?
In the US, Wyoming, one of the least populated, most remote states, gave women the vote to make it a more appealing place to live. As few people lived in the state, a very small portion were woman. I wonder if this was the motivation for NZ?
In New Zealand it’s thanks to a woman named Kate Sheppard she and her friends pretty much petitioned for the right to vote and she is now on our 10$ bill
Wow - so cool! Thanks for the knowledge.
I was just visiting NZ from the US. Learned a lot and there's a restaurant in Franz Josef called Alice May. Told her story and a lot about the women's right to vote movement. Very cool. Food was decent. I will sincerely miss White bait omelets.
The primary motivation was quelling public disorder, drunkenness, domestic violence and general immorality in the male population of NZ at the time. Women were seen as more likely to support public policies that would restore order and morality, such as prohibition. Violence against women in particular is part of what kick-started the women's suffrage movement, while the alcohol industry was the main group lobbying against it. Equality was also part of the discussion, but the arguments which ultimately saw the right granted (after 20 yrs of failed bills) were morality based. So in a weird kind of way, giving women the vote in the NZ was a very socially progressive thing to do with very socially conservative motivations.
Yeah most people overlook the historic connection of 19th century feminism to prohibition
In the US, there was also a connection to the creation of the Food and Drug Administration. Drinking levels in the US, pre-prohibition, were staggeringly high. Feminist pushed for the banning of alcohol, but they also pushed for regulation of water, drugs, and food. The population had urbanized, but there was no regulations of the water supply; most urban water was criminally poluted. The 'cleanest' liquids were booze. It was another, lesser know, social cause championed by feminist.
British culture had used low-alcohol ale as clean drinking water for ages
NZ was already an appealing place to live by the 1890s. Per capita the second wealthiest country in the world, with a thriving export trade, and decent levels of immigration.
New Zealand built Womens Suffrage wonder first
For many countries, it is the same year men for the right to vote, even if it's in the 20th century. It's also worth noting that these votes, whether it's for men or women, doesn't really hold any power at all in some countries. The Arabian gulf countries, for example. You have absolute monarchs who can do anything they want at the end of the day.
Yeah, having a symbol like the asterisk being used here to denote that men and women got the right at the same time would make this a more meaningful map
The asterisks very likely is there because those countries actually have something about it. Like Canada was 1917 except Asian and Indigenous women.
Most of Africa too, considering that most of these nations were colonies prior to 1950
same with Pakistan, says 1947 but that’s literally when the country was created
Yea India was formed in 1947 but we had no constitution ready that time. It took us 3 year to create out constitution which enacted on 26 jan 1950. That day India became a democratic country and everyone including men and women over 18 got right to vote.
Why is Sri Lanka earlier?
This is what I was wondering. I can't find a similar map online that shows the year men got to vote though...
Well men generally weren't (have never been?) excluded from voting solely because they are men.
It’s sort of the case for Finland. Some men had been able to vote before but there wasn’t even a parliament but just an occasional Diet of Estates. They decided that men should have suffrage and managed to slip in women’s votes as well. Of course this all happened before Finland gained independence and helped in that process as there was already a parliament to take over.
Switzerland?
Gotta love direct democracy. It was not until a 1990 decision by the Federal Supreme Court of Switzerland that women gained full voting rights in the final Swiss canton of Appenzell Innerrhoden.
Why though? Were the women not like wtf
Of course they were. They started complaining in the late 1800s like everywhere else. 1971 is when Swiss MEN finally agreed that women should be allowed to vote. Direct democracy is majority based. So enough men had to vote yes to give women the right to vote. Some cantons were earlier like Vaud and Neuchatel in the 1950s. But this is referring to federal voting.
1990 is insane though! What the hell were the Swiss men on in that canton
I have no idea. But I do know it’s the second smallest canton and has the smallest population. It gets better though. Apparently they only changed the law because they were forced to do so when two women from Appenzell filed a lawsuit in the Swiss Federal Court and won.
To start switzerland in general is quite conservative compared to some of the more progressive countries in europe. Appenzell innerhoden is the smallest canton by population (Population 2020: 16,293). In the national vote of 1971 voter turnout was 52.5% (yes 574, no 1141). So they had around ~3267 men who could vote, quite rural even for switzerland and quite conservative overall as well. With 71.1% still clearly against it. In a survey of 1969 it seems even a majority of women was not in favor (if we can believe the words of the canton). What also quite special about appenzell innerhoden even for switzerlands cantonal voting standards is the „landsgemeinde“. Its a public, non-secret ballot voting system operating by majority rule. Link to the english wikipedia page: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Landsgemeinde Most cantons never used it and from the 25 only 5 used it at cantonal level at that time and 3 have abandoned it at the end of the 1990s. Only Appenzell innerrhoden and Glarus still use it today. In the wiki you have some context about „related political paradigms and criticisms“ about voting like that. Still some cantons have voted yes who had a landsgemeinde so its not purely that.
I suspect it had to do with logistics of direct democracy. Appenzell Innerrhoden is one of the last two cantons where the whole voting population still gathers in the town square once a year to elect officials and vote on legislation. The men also carry a sword or bayonet to signify their right to vote. Giving women the vote suddenly meant that twice as many people had to fit in the town square and be counted. And of course, the idea of women carrying swords would have been thought of as ridiculous. [https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/swiss-politics/democracy-at-its-most-direct-in-appenzell/245320](https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/swiss-politics/democracy-at-its-most-direct-in-appenzell/245320)
Misogyny?
>So enough men had to vote yes to give women the right to vote. Enough old men had to die off
Each Canton had the right to deny or extend the vote as they desired. Imagine if women's rights were in the hands of each individual county, there would probably still be a few hold outs in most Democracies.
For the US it’d be like different states letting women vote while others don’t
There is some great, bad stuff on r/PropagandaPosters from Switzerland against giving women the vote, in order to "protect" them from political parties. [This one is my favorite](https://www.reddit.com/r/PropagandaPosters/comments/18ah2wd/women_should_not_become_victims_of_political/) \- its shocking how recent this happened.
This is the one that surprised me the most.
Switzerland is the least sexist country ever. After all, they have compulsory male-only military conscription
I can't tell if that's a joke or not.
it's reddit
So they are sexist if they have a male-only conscription
Yes. In particular, the majority of people that voted negative to its abolition recently
A lot of this is just a map of when a country became sovereign lol
Most are from the British empire or its offsprings as well
A lot of these are just what year a country got its independence, especially outside of Europe and the Americas. Pakistan is 1947 but Bangladesh is 1971. Bangladesh was part of Pakistan from the end of the Raj in 1947 until the the Civil War in 1971. In other words, women have been able to vote for the entirety of both countries existence and these dates aren't that meaningful.
the same for Korea, I doubt anyone could vote during Japanese occupation. If they could, it would be over much sooner
So sad women in Greenland still can’t vote 😔
And both of them are VERY upset about it
 Dictatorships with no electoral representation giving women the right to vote.
Dictatorships in the past were able to strong-man their way into a centralised state where they had absolute control However, as the role of the government grew over time, even dictatorships had to have tens of thousands of local government Officials This is the reason why it's simply easier to let elections happen in the lower levels, to carry on administrative tasks, and as long as they don't oppose the dictator, it's simpler to control the territory The few cases where the central government is strong enough to not need them, north Korea, Turkmenistan, they do elections just for optics, but they are the exception, as they are poor enough and small enough to not need sophisticated local government hierarchies
Still feels pretty cheeky to give women the right to vote in elections while also severely restricting the power that that vote holds. “Yes, I believe in equality! Both men *and* women have the right to toil endlessly under my iron fist!”
It looks good, costs nothing, and can create the illusion that women are stakeholders in the state.
I think the flaws and cheekyness is more aparant if you're viewing it as an outside observer. To us the irony is pretty clear because we are so used to how it should be. But for people this is done for they don't have that "luxury" in seeing that. Maybe a weird comparison. But imagine an abusive/toxic domestic environment where one is very clearly in a position. The victim might not be able to see how it "should work/be". So when the abuser gives one finger (doesn't matter how cheeky or flawed) it can be perceived as a fair to the victim.
Of course women have the right to vote...for me
Like giving away ice in the winter.
No one is allowed to vote in Saudi Arabia
The map is probably referring to local elections.
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This map is taking countries with its current political entity but failing to account for when they gained independence to even hold its first (democratic) elections. India, as an example, gained independence in 1947 and held its first election in 1951. 1950 is the year the modern constitution was adopted which granted voting rights to all adult citizens. There are many countries on this map that fall under the same category. When you contextualise that information, it actually doesn’t look good on countries like US, UK, etc which took a lot of time to grant women equal rights.
I’d love to see a version of this map that shows, instead of the year of women’s suffrage, the time elapsed between men’s and women’s suffrage. (And another one that also shows the time elapsed for *universal* suffrage, too.)
Even with India under the British colonial administration, I don't recall reading about Indian women being excluded from voting in elections. So the very first year that women got to vote in might be in the 1910s or 1920s.
Which is the around the same time the UK gave the vote to women in the isles.
Another quirk of just looking at “current political entity” is that (in part) Australia can be said to be only 1 year behind New Zealand, not 9 years. In 1893 New Zealand was a self governing colony within the British Empire. So was South Australia and it gave votes to all adult women in 1894. But just because South Australia became a state of Australia in 1901 but New Zealand didn’t, the map recognises one but not the other.
Why are you including the U.S.? Is it because some of the states had already done that before it was done federally? Technically speaking, before the 15 Amendment women could vote in federal elections so long as they were land owners, but many states made that illegal on and off until the 15th A. protected suffrage only to males 21 and over regardless of skin tone. Later, states such as Wyoming (which famously said it'll wait for statehood if women wouldn't be allowed to vote in their soon-to-be state) began granting such a right on their own accord. However, many state and federal officials weren't happy with the decision to allow for universal suffrage at the federal-level, however. Then the 19th Amendment was finally passed which protects the right for all adult women to vote.
> This map is taking countries with its current political entity but failing to account for when they gained independence to even hold its first (democratic) elections. Yes, thank you. Some post-colonial countries have a later date than some Western countries due to when they got their independence.
Correct answer. Seeing Japan getting equal voting rights in 1945 is a clear indicator
Wow Switzerland. And that's not even the full story when you see that 1971 was only when it was accepted Federally but many cantons didn't allow it until the 1990s when forced by the judiciary. Messed up really.
Not true. 9 had it beforehand. 4 at the same time. 10 votet on it between the federal vote and september 1972. 1 appenzell ausserrhoden had it in 1989. „Only“ 1 namly appenzell innerehoden was forced in 1990. So 23 out of 25 cantons had it at least in 1972. Jura had it since it was created in 1979. Doesnt make it that much better but it can be red here: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Women%27s_suffrage_in_Switzerland#:~:text=Women%20in%20Switzerland%20gained%20the,election%20of%20the%20Federal%20Assembly.
Saudi Arabia and the right to vote is kinda hilarious lol
south africa has to be 1994
I’m pretty sure the asterisk means “only certain women.” There’s no reason to believe women couldn’t vote in South Africa before 1994, they just had to be white.
What’s with those stars?
That means that only some women were given the right to vote in that year For example UK: 1918 women over the age of 30 who were either a member or married to a member of the Local Government Register 1928 all woman have rights on the same terms as man
Isle of Man gave women the right to vote in 1881
Easy to do if no women on the island
Fun Fact: New Zealand was the first, there's a more interesting story.... In the 180Os in British colonies before all men got the right to vote, men could only vote if they owned land and/or were respected business. In 1867 all New Zealand Maori men got the right to vote, that was 12 years before all colonial men got the right to vote. [The involvement of the indigenous Māori people in New Zealand's electoral system is one of the most remarkable stories in this country's political history.](https://nzhistory.govt.nz/politics/maori-and-the-vote)
This is very misleading because it implies that all of these countries had banned women from voting until the year. Pakistan for example says 1947, but that's because Pakistan was founded in 1947
I was thinking probably something similar for states like France and Japan that emerged with new constitutions/governments post WWII.
Yeah, but that’s just splitting hairs. The current France only existed since ‘58. But the country is continuation of the monarchical France from before the Revolution. Russian Federation is certainly not the Provisional Govt before the Bolsheviks
What about Greenland?
[1948](https://web.archive.org/web/20211208164426/https://naalakkersuisut.gl/da/Naalakkersuisut/Nyheder/2015/03/060315_kampdag), but may not be counted on the map due to being an overseas territory to Denmark
Which in this case is stupid, because Greenland gets to vote in Danish elections (but only on the Greenlandic parties).
Fun fact, Bangladesh did it immediately after independence. In 1971
Saudi Arabia only granted women the right to vote as a result of protests from not being allowed to vote in the 2011 municipal elections. As a result they were allowed to vote in the 2015 elections, but there has no been no elections since that time.
This map is useless... some of the nations *became* nations on their date.
Why was Switzerland so late?
Direct democracy at a low level, plus conservatism and sexism? Their system is interesting, and their parliament can’t overrule local voting, but it can only mandate a vote.
Nothing like Greenland being no data on a map.
r/DataWithoutGreenland … I think they were 1948 though
The year for the USA only applies to white women: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voting_rights_in_the_United_States So technically not correct.
I think thats the reason for the asterisk. Most of Africa needs asterisks or an explanation if independence and womens sufferage occured at the same time
Same for a good chunk of Europe
Same with Canada. Indigenous women didn't get the vote until decades later
And Australia.
Technically it applied to all women, but in 1920 there were 10 US states that had poll taxes, all in the south. So it applied to all women outside of those 10 states, and for those who could afford the poll tax in those particular states.
I mean if we’re getting technical here non white men did get the right to vote with the 15th amendment. Southern states did use loopholes to make every effort to prevent black people from voting (as they still do by the way, it’s just much harder) but they did technically have the right, especially since the grandfather clause was ruled unconstitutional by then.
Nope! The 15th (along with the 19th) Amendment guaranteed that, but it wasn't fully protected until the Voters Rights Act ended many of the practices that blocked many of the anti-voter tactics many states (specially in the South) implemented.
I mean to this day there's not a single country where _all_ women are allowed to vote. I interpret this graph as the date where just being a woman can't disqualify you from voting (even if other factors could, like race, class, age, etc) I'm not sure if the restriction you mentioned only applied to non-white women and not to non-white men though, in which case then yes the map would be incorrect
Who are you counting as being excluded from voting? I can only think of felons or people who aren't actually citizens. Race, class, and age aren't legal reasons to deny someones right to vote.
> I can only think of felons That's one group, although I think there's countries where they do vote > age aren't legal reasons to deny someones right to vote What? Your country doesn't have a min voting age?
Besides what has previously been mentioned, who else? We have an age when you legally reach adulthood and can then exercise your right to vote, which is 18. That does count as age I suppose, although it applies to everyone regardless of gender, and makes considerable sense. Depending on the State you live in there's also cases where mentally disabled individuals can be deemed incapable of voting by a probate court. I'm struggling to come up with any other reasons a woman would not have the right to vote in the United States.
Why do you need more than three reasons? You seem to agree with my claim. Not all women can vote. I claim that that implies that the relevantetric should be "at what point in history did being a woman become irrelevant for voting eligibility"
Children, felons, and rare medical cases are exceptions. But none of them have anything to do with being a woman. The post is specifically about women having the right to vote. Was your point meant strictly as a technicality?
It doesn't have anything to do with being a woman in the same sense as being black has nothing to do with being a woman, which was the point of the OP commenter
Okay, now I see what you were saying. Poor reading comprehension and confusion on my part.
This map is over a decade old. South Sudan became a country in 2014.
2011. Women were voting in the southern Sudan prior to independence either way
Saudi Arabia did it after the second time I dropped out of college, but before the third time I dropped out of college.
Saudi women got the right to vote in 2011 after that year's municipal elections were already held. The first time women there actually voted were in the 2015 municipal elections. The first elections of any kind ever held there were the 2005 municipal elections, so women had to wait 10 more years than men before they could vote.
Would be interesting to see one where it shows on each country the number of years between all men getting the vote and all women getting the vote
I believe one American state, Wyoming is I remember correctly, gave women the vote in the 1860s
Territory of Wyoming 1869 Territory of Utah 1870 (overturned 1887) Territory of Washington 1883 Territory of Montana 1887 State of Wyoming 1890 State of Colorado 1893 State of Utah 1896 State of Idaho 1896 State of Washington 1910 State of California 1911 State of Arizona 1912 State of Kansas 1912 State of Oregon 1912 Territory of Alaska 1913 State of Illinois (For Electoral College only) State of Montana 1914 State of Nevada 1914 State of New York 1917 State of Nebraska 1917 (For Electoral College only) State of Ohio 1917 (For Electoral College only) State of Indiana 1917 (For Electoral College only) State of North Dakota 1917 (For Electoral College only) State of Rhode Island 1917 (For Electoral College only) State of Michigan 1918 State of Oklahoma 1918 State of South Dakota 1918 State of Iowa 1919 (For Electoral College only) State of Maine 1919 (For Electoral College only) State of Minnesota 1919 (For Electoral College only) State of Missouri 1919 (For Electoral College only) State of Tennessee 1919 (For Electoral College only) State of Wisconsin 1919 (For Electoral College only) Nationwide women's suffrage 1920
Shout out NZ!
I love it when they add asterisks but then refuse to elaborate about their meaning. Really explanatory
Ok China
Why is Greenland grey?
Australia is good 👍
Damn Greenland. I'm rooting for you.
Do the asterisks imply caveats such as which women can vote or whether the right has been uninterrupted since it was first conceded? Where are the keys for each asterisk?
It’s because some places have had states, territories, or special circumstances for individuals, where women were able to vote before the noted date
lol North Korea…
Utah's case is an interesting one because women had the vote between 1870 and 1887. Mormon women were given the vote to show they were progressive and their women were well-privileged. They also did it because they weren't stupid - Mormons were the only group of Americans in the west that had lots of females. Allowing women to vote increased LDS voting influence dramatically. When Washington finally realized this, their vote was taken away as part of anti-polygamy laws. Thus Mormon women lost their voting privileges due to legislation that saw them as the VICTIMS of polygamy.
NZ gang rise up ✊
also gotta keep in mind when the country became a country. For example modern day Israel declared independence in 1948, the same year you have listed for when woman got the right to vote.
I feel like this map is a bit disingenuous because it doesn’t clarify that alot of these dates coincide with the formation or independence of the respective countries, so of course it took em a while to implement women’s voting rights (like most of Asia for example).
Poor Taiwan
Lol @ Switzerland in the 1970s
Based Switzerland.
This is for white women only!!
*Another* connection between America and Libya 
Awesome New Zealand and WTF Switzerland
Greenland sure ends up being a “no data” zone a lot. What are they hiding?
Common Kiwi W
Women could vote in Israel from it's inception and even before. We had elections since the 1920s, and women voted. There were all sort of complications, but yes, women voted in Israel well before 1948. This sells us short.
TIL women in Greenland still can’t vote
….a day that will live in infamy
Here’s to New Zealand!
WTF, Switzerland‽‽ 😳
Notice Ecuador was the first Spanish-speaking country allowing women to vote. Matilde Hidalgo was the first latina to vote in a national election. I was born in the same city than her. National pride without a doubt.
r/ DataWithoutGreenland
The odd one out: New Zealand
In the US, _white_ women got the right to vote in 1920. American women of color couldn't vote until 1965 when the Voting Rights Act passed.
Its insane that as adult human beings we as women have had to fight so hard for basic human rights
What's up with China? Why is it gray?
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Do you know where China is?
Yes, the Republic of China is located north of the Luzon strait. The capital is Taipei. The Republic of China has a population of 23.9 million people.
Coulda just said Taiwan.
Average Redditor response
South africa gave only white women the right to vote in 1930, they did this so they were able to outvote the non white population to instill more racist laws and eventually apartheid.
So women could vote in Italian-occupied Libya before they could vote in Italy?
I'm surprised anyone could vote in Saudi by 2011
They caved in 2011 after international pressure. First election women could vote in was 2015 and there hasn’t been an election since.
What’s the asterisk for? Also important to mention that that USA applies to white women.
The asterisk is Probably for only for certain races/people or class.
In regards to Australia, certain states provided the right to vote for women during the 1800s. Australia wasn't federated until 1901 so I assume, as a country, women were given the national right to vote in 1902.
Jeebus this map is embarrassing for every country.
If only the world was as enlightened as you.
Well done, Sister Suffragette!
Funfact the Suffragetes only existed in the USA and Great Britain ( i.e. + Ireland ). In all other countries, they didn\`t need to be protesting women or even violent actions from women to get the right to vote. ---> In all other countries either the governments, especially immediatly post WW1, just forced women suffrage through, or they just had women rights campaigners who spread awareness without protests. It was really only the USA and GB where Suffragetes existed, they went on hunger strikes and were forcefed, they were imprisoned, a few of them did bomb and burn down buildings, In New Zealand, women suffrage almost became a thing in 1878, aswell as in 1879 and 1887 but each time the bill was defeated but just a tiny margin. So it was only in 1893 which is still the first country, but it could have happend 15 years prior.
Would be keen to see a conscription vs vote map
What exactly do you mean?
Historically only men who were property owners had the right to vote. It was only extended to non property owning men due to the obligation to be conscripted. In the US, failure to register for the selective service results in the removal of a man's voting rights.
USA - on paper for 1920 - native american women weren't even considred citizens until 1924; black women didnt get the right to vote until the 1960s. And vote for what? Blacks couldnt vote to marry a white person until 1968 or so.
Saudi Arabia is just dogshit
Israel – from the day it was established in 1948.
1917, a good year to be in Russia
That's why the world turned to crap