New Zealand First to Grant Women Full Suffrage
New Zealand became the first self-governing country to grant women the right to vote
September 19, 1893
The World's First Nation to Grant Women the Vote
On September 19, 1893, New Zealand became the first self-governing country in the world to grant all women the right to vote in national elections. The achievement came after years of campaigning led by Kate Sheppard and the Women's Christian Temperance Union. Sheppard organized massive petition drives, collecting tens of thousands of signatures — remarkable in a country with a small population. The final petition presented to Parliament in 1893 contained nearly 32,000 signatures, representing a huge proportion of the adult female population.
The Fight Was Not Easy
The campaign for women's suffrage in New Zealand faced fierce opposition from liquor industry interests, who feared women voters would support prohibition, as well as from conservative politicians and some religious groups. The bill granting women the vote passed the Legislative Council by just two votes, and only after one opponent changed his position at the last moment. Governor Lord Glasgow signed it into law on September 19, 1893. Women voted in the general election just six weeks later, with about 85 percent of eligible women turning out to cast their ballots.
A Global Ripple Effect
New Zealand's achievement inspired suffrage movements around the world. Australia followed in 1902 (though Aboriginal women were excluded). Finland granted women full political rights in 1906. Britain and the United States followed after World War I. Some countries did not achieve full suffrage until much later — Switzerland not until 1971, and Saudi Arabia only in 2015 for municipal elections. The Voting Rights Act in the USA shows how the struggle for full democratic participation continued well into the twentieth century.