An electoral district, also known as an election district, legislative district, voting district, constituency, riding, ward, division, (election) precinct, electoral area, circumscription, or electorate, is an administrative subdivision of a larger state (a country, administrative region, or other polity) created to provide its population with representation in the larger state's legislative body. That body, in turn, determines each districts' boundaries and whether each will be represented by a single member or multiple members. Generally, only voters (constituents) who reside within the district are permitted to vote in an election held there. District representatives may be elected via a first-past-the-post system, a proportional representative system, or another voting method. They may be selected via a direct election under universal suffrage, an indirect election, or another form of suffrage.
Terminology
The names for electoral districts vary across countries and, occasionally, for the office being elected. The term constituency
is commonly used to refer to an electoral district, especially in
British English, but it can also refer to the body of eligible voters or
all the residents of the represented area or only those who voted for a
certain candidate. The terms (election) precinct and election district are more common in American English. In Australia and New Zealand, electoral districts are called electorates, however elsewhere the term electorate generally refers specifically to the body of voters.
In India electoral districts are referred to as "Nirvācan Kṣetra" (Hindi: निर्वाचन क्षेत्र) in Hindi,
which can be literally translated to English as "electoral area" though
the official English translation for the term is "constituency". The
term "Nirvācan Kṣetra" is used while referring to an electoral district
in general irrespective of the legislature. When referring to a
particular legislative constituency, it is simply referred to as
"Kṣetra" along with the name of the legislature, in Hindi (e.g.-'Lok
Sabha Kshatriya' for a Lok Sabha Constituency). Electoral districts for municipal or other local bodies are called "wards".
In Canada, districts are colloquially called riding (stemming from an earlier British geographical subdivision); in French, circumscription or (colloquially) Comte, "county." Local electoral districts are sometimes called wards, a term which also designates administrative subdivisions of a municipality. In local government in the Republic of Ireland voting districts are called "electoral areas".
Representatives
from electoral districts typically have offices in their respective
districts. This photo shows the office of Michael Moore, a Member of
Parliament (MP) in the UK.
Under proportional representation systems, district magnitude is an
important determinant of the makeup of the elected body. With a larger
number of winners, candidates are able to represent proportionately
smaller minorities;
a 10% minority in a given district may secure no seats in a 5-member
election but would be guaranteed a seat in a 9-member one because they
fulfill a Droop quota.
The geographic distribution of minorities also affects their
representation – an unpopular nationwide minority can still secure a
seat if they are concentrated in a particular district. Likewise a small
party with very diffuse support is more likely to win more seats with
larger multi-member districts rather than smaller single-member
districts where they may not have enough support in any particular seat.
District magnitude can sometimes vary within the same system during an
election. In the Republic of Ireland, for instance, national elections to Dáil Éireann are held using a combination of 3, 4, and 5 member districts. In Hong Kong, the magnitude ranges from 5 to 9, respective to the geographic constituencies' populations.
The only democracies with one single nationwide electoral
district and no other territorial correctors are Fiji, Israel, The
Netherlands, Moldova, Mozambique, Slovakia, South Africa and Serbia.
Apportionment and redistricting
Apportionment is the process of allocating a number of
representatives to different regions, such as states or provinces.
Apportionment changes are often accompanied by redistricting, the
redrawing of electoral district boundaries to accommodate the new
number of representatives. This redrawing is necessary under
single-member district systems, as each new representative requires
their own district. Multi-member systems, however, vary depending on
other rules. Ireland, for example, redraws its electoral districts after
every census while Belgium
uses its existing administrative boundaries for electoral districts and
instead modifies the number of representatives allotted to each. Israel and the Netherlands are among the few counties that avoid the need for apportionment entirely by electing legislators at-large.
Given the complexity of this process, software is increasingly
used to simplify the task, while better supporting reproducible and more
justifiable results.
Gerrymandering
Gerrymandering is the manipulation of electoral district
boundaries for political gain. By creating a few "forfeit" districts
where opposing candidates win overwhelmingly, gerrymandering politicians
can manufacture more, but narrower, wins for themselves and their
party. Gerrymandering relies on the wasted-vote effect,
effectively concentrating wasted votes among opponents while minimizing
wasted votes among supporters. Consequently, gerrymandering is
typically done under voting systems using single-member districts, which
have more wasted votes.
While much more difficult, gerrymandering can also be done under
proportional-voting systems when districts elect very few seats. By
making three-member districts in regions where a particular group has a
slight majority, for instance, gerrymandering politicians can obtain 2/3
of that district's seats. Similarly, by making four-member districts in
regions where the same group has slightly less than a majority,
gerrymandering politicians can still secure exactly half of the seats.
However, any possible gerrymandering that theoretically could
occur would be much less effective because minority groups can still
elect at least one representative if they make up a significant
percentage of the population (e.g. 20-25%), compared to single-member
districts where 40-49% of the voters can be essentially shut out from
any representation
Swing seats and safe seats
Sometimes, particularly under non-proportional winner-take-all voting systems, electoral districts can be prone to landslide victories. A safe seat is one that is very unlikely to be won by a rival politician due to the makeup of its constituency. Conversely, a swing seat is one that could easily swing either way. In United Kingdom general elections and United States
presidential and congressional elections, the voting in a relatively
small number of swing seats usually determines the outcome of the entire
election. Many politicians aspire to have safe seats.
In large multi-party systems like India, swing seats can lead to a hung assembly
like situation if a significant number of seats go for regional parties
instead of the larger national parties who are the main competitors at
the national or state level, as was the situation in the Lok Sabha (Lower house of the Parliament of India) during the 1990s.
Constituency work
Elected representatives may spend much of the time serving the needs or demands of individual constituents,
meaning either voters or residents of their district. This is more
common in assemblies with many single-member or small districts than
those with fewer, larger districts. In a looser sense, corporations and
other such organizations can be referred to as constituents, if they
have a significant presence in an area.
Many assemblies allow free postage (through franking privilege or prepaid envelopes) from a representative to a constituent, and often free telecommunications. Caseworkers may be employed by representatives to assist constituents with problems. Members of the U.S. Congress
(both Representatives and Senators) working in Washington, D.C. have a
governmentally staffed district office to aid in constituent services.
Many state legislatures have followed suit. Likewise, British MPs use their Parliamentary staffing allowance to appoint staff for constituency casework. Client politics and pork barrel politics are associated with constituency work.
Special constituencies with additional membership requirements
In
some elected assemblies, some or all constituencies may group voters
based on some criterion other than, or in addition to, the location they
live. Examples include:
Not all democratic political systems use separate districts or other electoral subdivisions to conduct elections. Israel, for instance, conducts parliamentary elections as a single district. While the 26 electoral districts in Italy and the 20 in the Netherlands have a role in the actual election, but no role whatsoever in the division of the seats. Ukraine elected half of the Verkhovna Rada (the Ukrainian Parliament) in this way in the elections in October 2012.
Suffrage, political franchise, or simply franchise is the right to vote in public, political elections (although the term is sometimes used for any right to vote). In some languages, and occasionally in English, the right to vote is called active suffrage, as distinct from passive suffrage, which is the right to stand for election. The combination of active and passive suffrage is sometimes called full suffrage.
Suffrage is often conceived in terms of elections for representatives. However, suffrage applies equally to referenda and initiatives.
Suffrage describes not only the legal right to vote, but also the
practical question of whether a question will be put to a vote. The
utility of suffrage is reduced when important questions are decided
unilaterally without extensive, conscientious, full disclosure and
public review.
In most democracies, eligible voters can vote in elections of
representatives. Voting on issues by referendum may also be available.
For example, in Switzerland this is permitted at all levels of
government. In the United States, some states such as California and Washington have exercised their shared sovereignty to offer citizens the opportunity to write, propose, and vote on referendums and initiatives; other states and the federal government have not. Referendums in the United Kingdom are rare.
Suffrage is granted to qualifying citizens once they have reached the voting age. What constitutes a qualifying citizen depends on the government's decision. Resident non-citizens can vote in some countries, which may be restricted to citizens of closely linked countries (e.g., Commonwealth citizens and European Union citizens) or to certain offices or questions.
Etymology
The word suffrage comes from Latinsuffragium, which initially meant "a voting-tablet", "a ballot", "a vote", or "the right to vote". Suffragium
in the second century and later came to mean "political patronage,
influence, interest, or support", and sometimes "popular acclaim" or
"applause". By the fourth century the word was used for "an
intercession", asking a patron for their influence with the Almighty. Suffragium
was used in the fifth and sixth centuries with connection to buying
influence or profiteering from appointing to office, and eventually the
word referred to the bribe itself. William Smith rejects the connection of suffragium to sub "under" + fragor "crash, din, shouts (as of approval)", related to frangere "to break"; Eduard Wunder writes that the word may be related to suffrago, signifying an ankle bone or knuckle bone. In the 17th century the English suffrage regained the earlier meaning of the Latin suffragium, "a vote" or "the right to vote".
Types
Universal suffrage
Universal suffrage
consists of the right to vote without restriction due to sex, race,
social status, education level, or wealth. It typically does not extend
the right to vote to all residents of a region; distinctions are frequently made in regard to citizenship, age, and occasionally mental capacity or criminal convictions.
The short-lived Corsican Republic (1755–1769) was the first country to grant limited universal suffrage to all citizens over the age of 25.
In 1819 60–80,000 men and women from 30 miles around Manchester assembled in the city's St. Peter's Square to protest their lack of any representation in the Houses of Parliament. Historian Robert Poole has called the Peterloo Massacre one of the defining moments of its age. The film Peterloo (The Movie) featured a scene of women suffragists planning their contribution to the protest.
This was followed by other experiments in the Paris Commune of 1871 and the island republic of Franceville
(1889). The 1840 constitution of the Kingdom of Hawai'i granted
universal suffrage to all male and female adults. In 1893, when the
Kingdom of Hawai'i was overthrown in a coup, New Zealand
became the only independent country to practice universal (active)
suffrage, and the Freedom in the World index lists New Zealand as the
only free country in the world in 1893.
Women's suffrage
German election poster from 1919: Equal rights – equal duties!
Women's suffrage is, by definition, the right of women to vote. This was the goal of the suffragists, who believed in using legal means and the suffragettes,
who used extremist measures. Short-lived suffrage equity was drafted
into provisions of the State of New Jersey's first, 1776 Constitution,
which extended the Right to Vote to unwed female landholders & black
land owners.
"IV. That all inhabitants of this Colony, of full age, who are worth
fifty pounds proclamation money, clear estate in the same, and have
resided within the county in which they claim a vote for twelve months
immediately preceding the election, shall be entitled to vote for
Representatives in Council and Assembly; and also for all other public
officers, that shall be elected by the people of the county at large." New Jersey1776
However, the document did not specify an Amendment procedure, and the
provision was subsequently replaced in 1844 by the adoption of the succeeding constitution, which reverted to "all white male" suffrage restrictions.
Although the Kingdom of Hawai'i granted female suffrage in 1840,
the right was rescinded in 1852. Limited voting rights were gained by
some women in Sweden, Britain, and some western U.S. states in the
1860s. In 1893, the British colony of New Zealand became the first self-governing nation to extend the right to vote to all adult women. In 1894 the women of South Australia achieved the right to both vote and stand for Parliament. The autonomous Grand Duchy of Finland in the Russian Empire was the first nation to allow all women to both vote and run for parliament.
Anti-women's suffrage propaganda
A British postcard against women's suffrage postcard from c.1908. It shows unflattering caricatures of suffragettes in front of parliament and the caption: 'This is the house that man built' with a poem. From the People's History Museum, Manchester.
Those against the women's suffrage movement made public organizations
to put down the political movement, with the main argument being that a
woman's place was in the home, not polls. Political cartoons and public
outrage over women's rights increased as the opposition to suffrage
worked to organize legitimate groups campaigning against women's voting
rights. The Massachusetts Association Opposed to the Further Extension
of Suffrage to Women was one organization that came out of the 1880s to
put down the voting efforts.
Many anti-suffrage propaganda poked fun at the idea of women in
politics. Political cartoons displayed the most sentiment by portraying
the issue of women's suffrage to be swapped with men's lives. Some
mocked the popular suffrage hairstyle of full-upward combed hair. Others
depicted young girls turning into suffragettes after a failure in life,
such as not being married.
Equal suffrage
Equal suffrage is sometimes confused with Universal suffrage,
although the meaning of the former is the removal of graded votes,
wherein a voter could possess a number of votes in accordance with
income, wealth or social status.
Census suffrage
Also known as "censitary suffrage", the opposite of equal suffrage,
meaning that the votes cast by those eligible to vote are not equal,
but are weighed differently according to the person's rank in the census
(e.g., people with higher education have more votes than those with
lower education, or a stockholder in a company with more shares has more
votes than someone with fewer shares). Suffrage may therefore be
limited, but can still be universal.
Compulsory suffrage
Where compulsory suffrage
exists, those who are eligible to vote are required by law to do so.
Thirty-two countries currently practise this form of suffrage.
Business vote
In local government in England
and some of its ex-colonies, businesses formerly had, and in some
places still have, a vote in the urban area in which they paid rates. This is an extension of the historical property-based franchise from natural persons to other legal persons.
In the United Kingdom, the Corporation of the City of London has retained and even expanded business vote, following the passing of the City of London (Ward Elections) Act 2002. This has given business interests within the City of London, which is a major financial centre with few residents, the opportunity to apply the accumulated wealth of the corporation to the development of an effective lobby for UK policies. This includes having the City Remembrancer, financed by the City's Cash, as a parliamentary agent, provided with a special seat in the House of Commons located in the under-gallery facing the Speaker's chair.
In a leaked document from 2012, an official report concerning the
City's Cash revealed that the aim of major occasions such as set-piece
sumptious banquets featuring national politicians was "to increase the
emphasis on complementing hospitality with business meetings consistent
with the City corporation's role in supporting the City as a financial
centre".
In cities in most Australian states, voting is optional for businesses but compulsory for individuals.
Basis of exclusion from suffrage
Gender
In ancient Athens,
often cited as the birthplace of democracy, only adult, male citizens
who owned land were permitted to vote. Through subsequent centuries,
Europe was generally ruled by monarchs, though various forms of
parliament arose at different times. The high rank ascribed to abbesses within the Catholic Church
permitted some women the right to sit and vote at national assemblies –
as with various high-ranking abbesses in Medieval Germany, who were
ranked among the independent princes of the empire. Their Protestant
successors enjoyed the same privilege almost into modern times.
Marie Guyart, a French nun who worked with the First Nations peoples of Canada during the seventeenth century, wrote in 1654 regarding the suffrage practices of Iroquois
women, "These female chieftains are women of standing amongst the
savages, and they have a deciding vote in the councils. They make
decisions there like the men, and it is they who even delegated the
first ambassadors to discuss peace." The Iroquois, like many First Nations peoples in North America, had a matrilinealkinship system. Property and descent were passed through the female line. Women elders voted on hereditary male chiefs and could depose them.
The emergence of modern democracy generally began with male
citizens obtaining the right to vote in advance of female citizens,
except in the Kingdom of Hawai'i,
where universal manhood and women's suffrage was introduced in 1840;
however, a constitutional amendment in 1852 rescinded female voting and
put property qualifications on male voting.
Voting rights for women were introduced into international law by the United Nations' Human Rights Commission, whose elected chair was Eleanor Roosevelt. In 1948 the United Nations adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights;
Article 21 stated: "(1) Everyone has the right to take part in the
government of his country, directly or through freely chosen
representatives. (3) The will of the people shall be the basis of the
authority of government; this will shall be expressed in periodic and
genuine elections which shall be by universal and equal suffrage and
shall be held by secret vote or by equivalent free voting procedures."
In the aftermath of the Reformation it was common in European countries for people of disfavored religious denominations to be denied civil and political rights, often including the right to vote, to stand for election or to sit in parliament. In Great Britain and Ireland,
Roman Catholics were denied the right to vote from 1728 to 1793, and
the right to sit in parliament until 1829. The anti-Catholic policy was
justified on the grounds that the loyalty of Catholics supposedly lay
with the Pope rather than the national monarch.
In England and Ireland, several Acts practically disenfranchised
non-Anglicans or non-Protestants by imposing an oath before admission to
vote or to stand for office. The 1672 and 1678 Test Acts forbade non-Anglicans to hold public offices, and the 1727 Disenfranchising Act
took away Catholics' voting rights in Ireland, which were restored only
in 1788. Jews could not even be naturalized. An attempt was made to
change this situation, but the Jewish Naturalization Act 1753 provoked such reactions that it was repealed the following year. Nonconformists (Methodists and Presbyterians) were only allowed to run for election to the British House of Commons starting in 1828, Catholics in 1829 (following the Catholic Relief Act 1829, which extended the Roman Catholic Relief Act 1791), and Jews in 1858 (with the Emancipation of the Jews in England). Benjamin Disraeli could only begin his political career in 1837 because he had been converted to Anglicanism at the age of 12.
In several states in the U.S. after the Declaration of Independence, Jews, Quakers or Catholics were denied voting rights and/or forbidden to run for office. The Delaware Constitution of 1776
stated that "Every person who shall be chosen a member of either house,
or appointed to any office or place of trust, before taking his seat,
or entering upon the execution of his office, shall (…) also make and
subscribe the following declaration, to wit: I, A B. do profess faith
in God the Father, and in Jesus Christ His only Son, and in the Holy
Ghost, one God, blessed for evermore; and I do acknowledge the holy
scriptures of the Old and New Testament to be given by divine
inspiration." This was repealed by article I, section 2 of the 1792 Constitution: "No religious test shall be required as a qualification to any office, or public trust, under this State". The 1778 Constitution of the State of South Carolina stated that "No person shall be eligible to sit in the house of representatives unless he be of the Protestant religion", the 1777 Constitution of the State of Georgia
(art. VI) that "The representatives shall be chosen out of the
residents in each county (…) and they shall be of the Protestent (sic) religion". In Maryland, voting rights and eligibility were extended to Jews in 1828.
In Canada, several religious groups (Mennonites, Hutterites, Doukhobors)
were disenfranchised by the wartime Elections Act of 1917, mainly
because they opposed military service. This disenfranchisement ended
with the closure of the First World War, but was renewed for Doukhobors
from 1934 (via the Dominion Elections Act) to 1955.
The first Constitution of modern Romania in 1866 provided in article 7 that only Christians could become Romanian citizens. Jews native to Romania were declared stateless persons. In 1879, under pressure from the Berlin Peace Conference,
this article was amended, granting non-Christians the right to become
Romanian citizens, but naturalization was granted on a case-by-case
basis and was subject to Parliamentary approval. An application took
over ten years to process. Only in 1923 was a new constitution adopted,
whose article 133 extended Romanian citizenship to all Jewish residents
and equality of rights to all Romanian citizens.
Wealth, tax class, social class
Until the nineteenth century, many Western proto-democracies had property qualifications
in their electoral laws; e.g. only landowners could vote (because the
only tax for such countries was the property tax), or the voting rights
were weighted according to the amount of taxes paid (as in the Prussian three-class franchise).
Most countries abolished the property qualification for national
elections in the late nineteenth century, but retained it for local
government elections for several decades. Today these laws have largely
been abolished, although the homeless may not be able to register because they lack regular addresses.
In the United Kingdom, until the House of Lords Act 1999, peers who were members of the House of Lords were excluded from voting for the House of Commons
because they were not commoners. Although there is nothing to prevent
the monarch from voting it is considered unconstitutional for the
monarch to vote in an election.
Throughout the 19th and 20th centuries, many nations made voters
pay to elect officials, keeping impoverished people from being fully
enfranchised. These laws were in effect in: Argentina, Brazil, Canada,
Chile, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Mexico, Peru, Uruguay, and Venezuela.
Knowledge
Sometimes
the right to vote has been limited to people who had achieved a certain
level of education or passed a certain test. In some US states, "literacy tests" were previously implemented to exclude those who were illiterate.
This disproportionately affected poor and black people, who were
systemically denied access to the same educational opportunities as the
white and rich people. Under the 1961 constitution of Rhodesia,
voting on the "A" roll, which elected up to 50 of the 65 members of
parliament, was restricted based on education requirements, which in
practice led to an overwhelming white vote. Voting on the "B" roll had
universal suffrage, but only appointed 15 members of parliament.
In the 20th century, many countries other than the US placed voting restrictions on illiterate people, including: Bolivia, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Ecuador, and Peru.
Race
Various
countries, usually countries with a dominant race within a wider
population, have historically denied the vote to people of particular
races, or to all but the dominant race. This has been achieved in a
number of ways:
Official – laws and regulations passed specifically disenfranchising people of particular races (for example, the Antebellum United States, Boer republics, pre-apartheid and apartheid
South Africa, or many colonial political systems, who provided suffrage
only for white settlers and some privileged non-white groups). Canada
and Australia denied suffrage for their indigenous populations until the
1960s.
Indirect – nothing in law specifically prevents anyone from voting
on account of their race, but other laws or regulations are used to
exclude people of a particular race. In southern states of the United
States of America before the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965, poll taxes, literacy and other tests were used to disenfranchise African-Americans.
Property qualifications have tended to disenfranchise a minority race,
particularly if tribally owned land is not allowed to be taken into
consideration. In some cases this was an unintended (but usually
welcome) consequence.
Many African colonies after World War II until decolonization had tough
education and property qualifications which practically gave meaningful
representation only for rich European minorities.
Unofficial – nothing in law prevents anyone from voting on account
of their race, but people of particular races are intimidated or
otherwise prevented from exercising this right. This was a common tactic
employed by white Southerners against Freedmen during the Reconstruction Era
and the following period before more formal methods of
disenfranchisement became entrenched. Unofficial discrimination could
even manifest in ways which, while allowing the act of voting itself,
effectively deprive it of any value – for example, in Israel, the country's Arab minority has maintained a party-system separate from that of the Jewish majority. in the run-up for the country's 2015 elections, the electoral threshold was raised from 2% to 3.25%, thus forcing the dominant Arab parties – Hadash, the United Arab List, Balad and Ta'al – either to run under one list or risk losing their parliamentary representation.
Age
All modern democracies require voters to meet age qualifications to
vote. Worldwide voting ages are not consistent, differing between
countries and even within countries, though the range usually varies
between 16 and 21 years. Demeny voting
has been proposed as a form of proxy voting by parents on behalf of
their children who are below the age of suffrage. The movement to lower
the voting age is one aspect of the Youth rights movement.
Criminality
Some countries restrict the voting rights of convicted criminals. Some countries, and some U.S. states,
also deny the right to vote to those convicted of serious crimes even
after they are released from prison. In some cases (e.g. in many U.S. states)
the denial of the right to vote is automatic upon a felony conviction;
in other cases (e.g. France and Germany) deprivation of the vote is
meted out separately, and often limited to perpetrators of specific
crimes such as those against the electoral system or corruption of
public officials. In the Republic of Ireland, prisoners are allowed the right to vote, following the Hirst v UK (No2) ruling, which was granted in 2006. Canada
allowed only prisoners serving a term of less than 2 years the right to
vote, but this was found to be unconstitutional in 2002 by the Supreme Court of Canada in Sauvé v. Canada (Chief Electoral Officer), and all prisoners have been allowed to vote as of the 2004 Canadian federal election.
Residency
Under
certain electoral systems elections are held within subnational
jurisdictions, thus preventing persons from voting who would otherwise
be eligible on the basis that they do not reside within such a
jurisdiction, or because they live in an area that cannot participate.
In the United States, residents of Washington, D.C. receive no voting
representation in Congress, although they do have full representation in
presidential elections, based on the Twenty-third Amendment to the
United States Constitution adopted in 1961. Residents of Puerto Rico enjoy neither.
Sometimes citizens become ineligible to vote because they are no
longer resident in their country of citizenship. For example, Australian
citizens who have been outside Australia for more than one and fewer
than six years may excuse themselves from the requirement to vote in Australian elections while they remain outside Australia (voting in Australia is compulsory for resident citizens).
Danish citizens that reside permanently outside Denmark lose their right to vote.
In some cases, a certain period of residence in a locality may
required for the right to vote in that location. For example, in the
United Kingdom up to 2001, each 15 February a new electoral register
came into effect, based on registration as of the previous 10 October,
with the effect of limiting voting to those resident five to seventeen
months earlier depending on the timing of the election.
Nationality
In most countries, suffrage is limited to citizens and, in many
cases, permanent residents of that country. However, some members of
supra-national organisations such as the Commonwealth of Nations
and the European Union have granted voting rights to citizens of all
countries within that organisation. Until the mid-twentieth century,
many Commonwealth countries gave the vote to all British citizens within
the country, regardless of whether they were normally resident there.
In most cases this was because there was no distinction between British and local citizenship.
Several countries qualified this with restrictions preventing non-white
British citizens such as Indians and British Africans from voting.
Under European Union law, citizens of European Union countries can vote
in each other's local and European Parliament elections on the same
basis as citizens of the country in question, but usually not in
national elections.
Naturalization
In
some countries, naturalized citizens do not have the right to vote or
to be a candidate, either permanently or for a determined period.
Article 5 of the 1831 Belgian Constitution made a difference between ordinary naturalization, and grande naturalisation. Only (former) foreigners who had been granted grande naturalisation
were entitled to vote, be a candidate for parliamentary elections, or
be appointed minister. However, ordinary naturalized citizens could vote
for municipal elections.
Ordinary naturalized citizens and citizens who had acquired Belgian
nationality through marriage could vote, but not run as candidates for
parliamentary elections in 1976. The concepts of ordinary and grande
naturalization were suppressed from the Constitution in 1991.
In France,
the 1889 Nationality Law barred those who had acquired the French
nationality by naturalization or marriage from voting, and from
eligibility and access to several public jobs. In 1938 the delay was
reduced to five years.
[clarification needed] These instances of discrimination, as well as
others against naturalized citizens, were gradually abolished in 1973 (9
January 1973 law) and 1983.
In Morocco, a former French protectorate,
and in Guinea, a former French colony, naturalized citizens are
prohibited from voting for five years following their naturalization.
In Nicaragua, Peru and the Philippines,
only citizens by birth are eligible for being elected to the national
legislature; naturalized citizens enjoy only voting rights.
In Uruguay, naturalized citizens have the right of eligibility to the parliament after five years.
In the United States, the President and Vice President
must be natural-born citizens. All other governmental offices may be
held by any citizen, although citizens may only run for Congress after
an extended period of citizenship (seven years for the House of
Representatives and nine for the Senate).
Function
In France, an 1872 law, rescinded only by a 1945 decree, prohibited all army personnel from voting.
The 1876 Constitution of Texas
(article VI, section 1) stated that "The following classes of persons
shall not be allowed to vote in this State, to wit: (…) Fifth—All
soldiers, marines and seamen, employed in the service of the army or
navy of the United States." The provision has since been repealed.
In many countries with a presidential system
of government a person is forbidden to be a legislator and an official
of the executive branch at the same time. Such provisions are found, for
example, in Article I of the U.S. Constitution.
History around the world
Countries with universal suffrage granted to women, 2017
In 1840, the Kingdom of Hawai'i adopted full suffrage to all adults,
including women, but in 1852 rescinded female voting. In 1902 the Commonwealth Franchise Act
enabled women to vote federally in Australia and in the state of New
South Wales. This legislation also allowed women to run for government,
making Australia the first in the world to allow this. In 1906 Finland
became the next nation in the world to give all adult citizens full
suffrage, in other words the right to vote and to run for office. New
Zealand granted all adult citizens the right to vote (in 1893), but
women did not get the right to run for the New Zealand legislature until 1919.
1855 – South Australia is the first colony to allow all male
suffrage to British subjects (later extended to Australian Aborigines,
which weren’t considered humans at this time) over the age of 21.
1894 – South Australian women eligible to vote.
1896 – Tasmania becomes last colony to allow all male suffrage.
1899 – Western Australian women eligible to vote.
1902 – The Commonwealth Franchise Act
enables women to vote federally and in the state of New South Wales.
This legislation also allows women to run for government, making
Australia the first democratic state in the world to allow this.
1921 – Edith Cowan
is elected to the West Australian Legislative Assembly as member for
West Perth, the first woman elected to any Australian Parliament.
1962 – Australian Aborigines
guaranteed the right to vote in Commonwealth elections, however, in
practice this right was dependent on Aboriginal voting rights having
been granted by the individual's respective state.
1965 – Queensland is the last state to grant voting rights to Aboriginal Australians.
Brazil
1824
– The first Brazilian constitution allows free men over the age of 25
to vote, but there are income restrictions. The House of Deputies'
representatives are chosen via electoral colleges.
1881 – The Saraiva Law implements direct voting, but there are
income restrictions. Women and slaves do not have the right to vote.
1932 – Voting becomes obligatory for all adults over 21 years of age, unlimited by gender or income.
1955 – Adoption of standardized voting ballots and identification requirements to mitigate frauds.
1964 – Military regime established. From then on, presidents were elected by members of the congress, chosen by regular vote.
1989 – Reestablishment of universal suffrage for all citizens over
16 years of age. People considered illiterate are not obliged to vote,
nor are people younger than 18 and older than 70 years of age. People
under the obligation rule shall file a document to justify their absence
should they not vote.
2000 – Brazil becomes the first country to fully adopt electronic ballots in their voting process.
Canada
1871 – One of the first acts of the new Province of British Columbia strips the franchise from First Nations, and ensures Chinese and Japanese people are prevented from voting.
1916 – Manitoba becomes the first province in which women have the right to vote in provincial elections.
1917 – Wartime Elections Act gives voting rights to women with relatives fighting overseas. Voting rights are stripped from all "enemy aliens" (those born in enemy countries who arrived in Canada after 1902; see also Ukrainian Canadian internment). Military Voters Act gives the vote to all soldiers, even non-citizens, (with the exception of Indian and Metis veterans)
and to women serving as nurses or clerks for the armed forces, but the
votes are not for specific candidates but simply for or against the
government.
1918 – Women gain full voting rights in federal elections.
1919 – Women gain the right to run for federal office.
1940 – Quebec becomes the last province where women's right to vote is recognized.
1947 – Racial exclusions against Chinese and Indo-Canadians lifted.
1948 – Racial exclusions against Japanese Canadians lifted.
1955 – Religious exclusions are removed from election laws.
1960 – Right to vote is extended unconditionally to First Nations peoples. (Previously they could vote only by giving up their status as First Nations people.)
1960 – Right to vote in advance is extended to all electors willing to swear they would be absent on election day.
1988 – Supreme Court of Canada rules mentally ill patients have the right to vote.
1993 – Any elector can vote in advance.
2000 – Legislation is introduced making it easier for people of no fixed address to vote.
2002 – Prisoners given the right to vote in the riding (voting
district) where they were convicted. All adult Canadians except the
Chief and Deputy Electoral Officers can now vote in Canada.
The
European Union has given the right to vote in municipal elections to
the citizen of another EU country by the Council Directive 94/80/EG from
19 December 1994.
Finland
1906 – Full suffrage for all citizens adults aged 24 or older at beginning of voting year.
1981 – Voting and eligibility rights were granted to Nordic Passport Union country citizens without residency condition for municipal elections.
1991 – Voting and eligibility rights were extended to all foreign residents in 1991 with a two-year residency condition for municipal elections.
1995 – Residency requirement abolished for EU residents, in
conformity with European legislation (Law 365/95, confirmed by Electoral
Law 714/1998).
1996 – Voting age lowered to 18 years at date of voting.
2000 – Section 14, al. 2 of the 2000 Constitution of Finland states that "Every
Finnish citizen and every foreigner permanently resident in Finland,
having attained eighteen years of age, has the right to vote in
municipal elections and municipal referendums, as provided by an Act.
Provisions on the right to otherwise participate in municipal government
are laid down by an Act."
France
11 August 1792 : Introduction of universal suffrage (men only)
1795 : Universal suffrage for men is replaced with indirect Census suffrage
13 December 1799: The French Consulate re-establishes male universal suffrage increased from 246,000 to over 9 million.
In 1850 (31 May): The number of people eligible to vote is reduced by 30% by excluding criminals and the homeless.
Napoleon III
calls a referendum in 1851 (21 December), all men aged 21 and over are
allowed to vote. Male universal suffrage is established thereafter.
As of 21 April 1944 the franchise is extended to women over 21
On 5 July 1974 the minimum age to vote is reduced to 18 years old.
Kingdom of Hawai'i
In
1840, the king of Hawai'i issued a constitution that granted universal
suffrage, both for females and males, but later amendments added
restrictions, as the influence of Caucasian settlers increased:
1852 – Women lost the right to vote, and the minimum voting age was specified as 20.
1864 – Voting was restricted on the basis of new
qualifications—literacy and either a certain level of income or property
ownership.
1887 – Citizens of Hawai'i with Asian descent were disqualified.
There was an increase in the minimum value of income or owned property.
Hawai'i lost its independence in 1893.
Hong Kong
Minimum age to vote was reduced from 21 to 18 years in 1995.
The Basic Law, the constitution of the territory since 1997, stipulates
that all permanent residents (a status conferred by birth or by seven
years of residence) have the right to vote. The right of permanent
residents who have right of abode in other countries to stand in
election is, however, restricted to 12 functional constituencies by the Legislative Council Ordinance of 1997.
The right to vote and the right to stand in elections are not
equal. Fewer than 250,000 of the electorate are eligible to run in the
30 functional constituencies, of which 23 are elected by fewer than
80,000 of the electorate, and in the 2008 Legislative Council election
14 members were elected unopposed from these functional constituencies.
The size of the electorates of some constituencies is fewer than 200.
Only persons who can demonstrate a connection to the sector are eligible
to run in a functional constituency.
The Legislative Council (Amendment) Bill 2012, if passed, amends
the Legislative Council Ordinance to restrict the right to stand in
Legislative Council by-elections in geographical constituencies
and the District Council (Second) functional constituency. In addition
to those persons who are mentally disabled, bankrupt, or imprisoned,
members who resign their seats will not have the right to stand for six
months' time from their resignation. The bill is currently passing
through the committee stage.
1866 – The House of Keys Election Act makes the House of Keys
an elected body. The vote is given to men over the age of 21 who own
property worth at least £8 a year or rent property worth at least £12 a
year. Candidates must be male, with real estate of an annual value of
£100, or of £50 along with a personal estate producing an annual income
of £100.
1881 – The House of Keys Election Act is amended so that the
property qualification is reduced to a net annual value of not less than
£4. Most significantly, the Act is also amended to extend the
franchise to unmarried women and widows over the age of 21 who own
property, making the Isle of Man the first place to give some women the
vote in a national election. The property qualification for candidates
is modified to allow the alternative of personal property producing a
year income of £150.
1892 – The franchise is extended to unmarried women and widows over
the age of 21 who rent property worth a net annual value of at least £4,
as well as to male lodgers. The property qualification for candidates
is removed.
1903 – A residency qualification is introduced in addition to the
property qualification for voters. The time between elections is reduced
from 7 to 5 years.
1919 – Universal adult suffrage based on residency is introduced:
all male and female residents over the age of 21 may vote. The entire
electorate (with the exception of clergy and holders of office of
profit) becomes eligible to stand for election.
1970 – Voting age lowered to 18.
2006 – Voting age lowered to 16. The age of eligibility for candidates remains at 18.
Italy
The Supreme Court states that "the rules derogating from the passive electoral law must be strictly interpreted".
Japan
1947 – Universal Suffrage instituted with the establishment of Post-war Constitution.
New Zealand
1853 – British government passes the New Zealand Constitution Act 1852, granting limited self-rule, including a bicameral parliament,
to the colony. The vote was limited to male British subjects aged 21 or
over who owned or rented sufficient property and were not imprisoned
for a serious offence. Communally owned land was excluded from the
property qualification, thus disenfranchising most Māori (indigenous) men.
1860 – Franchise extended to holders of miner's licenses who met all voting qualifications except that of property.
1867 – Māori seats established, giving Māori four reserved seats in the lower house.
There was no property qualification; thus Māori men gained universal
suffrage before other New Zealanders. The number of seats did not
reflect the size of the Māori population, but Māori men who met the
property requirement for general electorates were able to vote in them
or in the Māori electorates but not both.
1879 – Property requirement abolished.
1893 – Women won equal voting rights with men, making New Zealand the first nation in the world to allow women to vote.
1969 – Voting age lowered to 20.
1974 – Voting age lowered to 18.
1975 – Franchise extended to permanent residents of New Zealand, regardless of whether they have citizenship.
1996 – Number of Māori seats increased to reflect Māori population.
2010 – Prisoners imprisoned for one year or more denied voting rights while serving the sentence.
Norway
1814 – The constitution gave male landowners or officials above the age of 25 full voting rights.
1885 – Male taxpayers that paid at least 500 NOK of tax (800 NOK in towns) got voting rights.
1900 – Universal suffrage for men over 25.
1901 – Women, over 25, paying tax or having common household with a man paying tax, got the right to vote in local elections.
1909 – Women, over 25, paying tax or having common household with a man paying tax, got full voting rights.
1913 – Universal suffrage for all over 25, applying from the election in 1915.
1920 – Voting age lowered to 23.
1946 – Voting age lowered to 21.
1967 – Voting age lowered to 20.
1978 – Voting age lowered to 18.
Poland
1918
– In its first days of independence in 1918, after 123 years of
partition, voting rights were granted to both men and women. Eight women
were elected to the Sejm in 1919.
1952 – Voting age lowered to 18.
South Africa
1910 – The Union of South Africa is established by the South Africa Act 1909. The House of Assembly is elected by first-past-the-post
voting in single-member constituencies. The franchise qualifications
are the same as those previously existing for elections of the
legislatures of the colonies that comprised the Union. In the Transvaal and the Orange Free State the franchise is limited to white men. In Natal
the franchise is limited to men meeting property and literacy
qualifications; it was theoretically colour-blind but in practise nearly
all non-white men were excluded. The traditional "Cape Qualified Franchise" of the Cape Province
is limited to men meeting property and literacy qualifications and is
colour-blind; nonetheless 85% of voters are white. The rights of
non-white voters in the Cape Province are protected by an entrenched clause in the South Africa Act requiring a two-thirds vote in a joint sitting of both Houses of Parliament.
1931 – The Franchise Laws Amendment Act, 1931
removes the property and literacy qualifications for all white men over
the age of 21, but they are retained for non-white voters.
1936 – The Representation of Natives Act, 1936 removes black
voters in the Cape Province from the common voters' roll and instead
allows them to elect three "Native Representative Members" to the House
of Assembly. Four Senators
are to be indirectly elected by chiefs and local authorities to
represent black South Africans throughout the country. The act is passed
with the necessary two-thirds majority in a joint sitting.
1951 – The Separate Representation of Voters Act, 1951 is passed by Parliament by an ordinary majority in separate sittings. It purports to remove coloured
voters in the Cape Province from the common voters' roll and instead
allow them to elect four "Coloured Representative Members" to the House
of Assembly.
1952 – In Harris v Minister of the Interior the Separate Representation of Voters Act is annulled by the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court because it was not passed with the necessary two-thirds majority in a joint sitting. Parliament passes the High Court of Parliament Act, 1952, purporting to allow it to reverse this decision, but the Appellate Division annuls it as well.
1956 – By packing the Senate and the Appellate Division, the government passes the South Africa Act Amendment Act, 1956, reversing the annulment of the Separate Representation of Voters Act and giving it the force of law.
1969 – The first election of the Coloured Persons Representative Council
(CPRC), which has limited legislative powers, is held. Every Coloured
citizen over the age of 21 can vote for its members, in
first-past-the-post elections in single-member constituencies.
1978 – The voting age for the CPRC is reduced from 21 to 18.
1981 – The first election of the South African Indian Council (SAIC), which has limited legislative powers, is held. Every Indian South African citizen over the age of 18 can vote for its members, in first-past-the-post elections in single-member constituencies.
1984 – The Constitution of 1983 establishes the Tricameral Parliament. Two new Houses of Parliament are created, the House of Representatives to represent coloured citizens and the House of Delegates
to represent Indian citizens. Every coloured and Indian citizen over
the age of 18 can vote in elections for the relevant house. As with the
House of Assembly, the members are elected by first-past-the-post voting
in single-member constituencies. The CPRC and SAIC are abolished.
1994 – With the end of apartheid, the Interim Constitution of 1993 abolishes the Tricameral Parliament and all racial discrimination in voting rights. A new National Assembly
is created, and every South African citizen over the age of 18 has the
right to vote for the assembly. The right to vote is also extended to
long term residents. It is estimated the 500 000 foreign nationals voted
in the 1994 national and provincial elections. Elections of the
assembly are based on party-list proportional representation. The right to vote is enshrined in the Bill of Rights.
2004 – In Minister of Home Affairs v NICRO and Others the Constitutional Court rules that prisoners cannot be denied the right to vote, and invalidates the laws that do so.
1865 – Parliament of Four Estates abolished and replaced by a bicamerallegislature.
The members of the First Chamber were elected indirectly by the county
councils and the municipal assemblies in the larger towns and cities.
1909 – All men who had done their military service and who paid tax were granted suffrage.
Reform Act 1832
– extended voting rights to adult males who rented propertied land of a
certain value, so allowing 1 in 7 males in the UK voting rights.
Reform Act 1867 – extended the franchise to men in urban areas who met a property qualification, so increasing male suffrage.
Representation of the People Act 1884
– addressed imbalances between the boroughs and the countryside; this
brought the voting population to 5,500,000, although 40% of males were
still disenfranchised because of the property qualification.
Between 1885 and 1918 moves were made by the women's suffrage movement to ensure votes for women. However, the duration of the First World War stopped this reform movement.
Representation of the People Act 1918
– the consequences of World War I persuaded the government to expand
the right to vote, not only for the many men who fought in the war who
were disenfranchised, but also for the women who worked in factories,
agriculture and elsewhere as part of the war effort, often substituting
for enlisted men and including dangerous work such as in munitions
factories. All men aged 21 and over were given the right to vote.
Property restrictions for voting were lifted for men. Votes were given
to 40% of women, with property restrictions and limited to those over 30
years old. This increased the electorate from 7.7 million to 21.4
million with women making up 8.5 million of the electorate. Seven
percent of the electorate had more than one vote, either because they
owned business property or because they were university graduates. The
first election with this system was the 1918 general election.
The Constitution
did not originally define who was eligible to vote, allowing each state
to decide this status. In the early history of the U.S., most states
allowed only white male adult property owners to vote (about 6% of the population).
By 1856 property ownership requirements were eliminated in all states,
giving suffrage to most white men. However, tax-paying requirements
remained in five states until 1860 and in two states until the 20th
century.
After the Civil War,
five amendments to the Constitution were expressly addressed to the
"right to vote"; these amendments limit the basis upon which the right
to vote in any U.S. state or other jurisdiction may be abridged or
denied.
15th Amendment
(1870): "The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not
be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of
race, color, or previous condition of servitude."
19th Amendment
(1920): "The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not
be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of
sex."
24th Amendment
(1964): "The right of citizens of the United States to vote in any
primary or other election for President or Vice President, for electors
for President or Vice President, or for Senator or Representative in
Congress, shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any
State by reason of failure to pay any poll tax or other tax."
26th Amendment
(1971): "The right of citizens of the United States, who are eighteen
years of age or older, to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the
United States or by any State on account of age."
Full removal of racial disenfranchisement of citizens was not secured until the Voting Rights Act of 1965 gained passage through Congress following the Civil Rights Movement. For state elections, it was not until the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 6–3 in Harper v. Virginia Board of Elections (1966) that all state poll taxes were declared unconstitutional as violating the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. This removed a burden on the poor, including some poor whites who had been disenfranchised.
