Talk:Universal suffrage

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Britain 1918 -universal suffrage or not?[edit]

Britain allowed women to vote in 1918, but only if they were over 30, whereas back then the age when men could vote was 21. Does this count as universal suffrage or not? - Rich

There were actually additional qualifications for women to vote in the UK between 1918 & 1928 under the Representation of the People Act 1918. However even if those additional qualifications were there I would not count this as universal female suffrage. I believe that suffrage can only be universal if the age qualification is no older than 21 - the age of majority in much of the world until the mid 20th century. Robert Brockway (talk) 10:48, 28 May 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Reserving seats for communal groups[edit]

This is something different.... Reserving seats for communal groups isn't particularly uncommon, and it's different from denying the right to vote.


Most societies today no longer maintain such provisions, but a few still do. For example, Fiji reserves a certain number of seats in its Parliament for each of its main ethnic groups; these provisions were adopted in order to discriminate against Indians in favour of ethnic Fijians. Pakistan reserves certain seats in parliament for voting by "frontier" tribes.

Candidacy[edit]

Does the term universal suffrage also include equal right to stand as a candidate in general elections? 130.232.129.242 15:14, 1 Nov 2004 (UTC)

Request for comment Discussion on Switzerland Universal Suffrage[edit]

When did women gain Universal Suffrage (the ability to have the same rights as men to vote) in Switzerland? Was it when they were granted the right to vote at the federal level, but not the local level, in 1971? Or was it when women went to the supreme court and won the additional right to vote in local elections in 1990? 51.7.116.134 (talk) 01:08, 11 May 2022 (UTC)[reply]

I'd say go with 1990. A bunch of countries had local universal suffrage earlier than national/federal level, but the list only considers the latter. FelipeFritschF (talk) 02:37, 11 May 2022 (UTC)[reply]
If possible we should note both, e.g. 1971 federally, 1990 all elections. If not, I'd say something like 1971 (federal elections only). Loki (talk) 03:43, 11 May 2022 (UTC)[reply]
In a lot of countries, this issue is resolved at the national level where there might have been different states or local governments that extended suffrage rights to a minority for a number of years and that right was confirmed throughout the entire country via the national government. Switzerland seems to have been the reverse, where the federal government allowed women the right to vote for federal matters, but women were not extended the right to vote for local canton elections.
Universal Suffrage does not mean national level only, it means being treated the same without distinction in law for all. In this case, between 1971-1990 women would have to either move to another canton or possibly move to another country to have the same rights as men under the law. It is obvious that women were treated differently in law as they did not have the same rights in all parts of the country as they did not have the same right to vote as men until 1990 in Switzerland.
This would be as if in America women could vote for the president & federal congress, but could not vote for the state senate, governor, town mayor, etc.
This is why the UK lists 1928 and not 1918 as the time that women had full suffrage as men as from 1918-1928 women 30 and over could vote while men 21 and over could vote. It wasn't until the aptly named Equal Franchise Act 1928 that women had equal suffrage rights to men.
It is also why 1965 is listed for ethnicity in America. While America was supposed to have extended equal voting rights to all African Americans in 1870, Jim Crow laws ensured that they lost those rights in some states in the south (but not the north) so they could not actually vote in the entire country until the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Same as women in Switzerland from 1971 until 1990. 51.7.116.134 (talk) 10:46, 12 May 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Female suffrage was changed for Switzerland from 1971 to 1990 apparently based on this statement above:"Universal Suffrage does not mean national level only, it means being treated the same without distinction in law for all." If that is true then the entire table needs to be revised. Women did not get the right to vote in the Australian state of Victoria until 1908. Further, women did not get the right to vote in the Australian city of Brisbane until 1924. Should the year for female suffrage for Australia be listed as 1924, assuming that no later dates exist for cities? I'd suggest no Australian expert would agree with a date that late for female suffrage in Australia. Robert Brockway (talk) 11:48, 28 May 2022 (UTC)[reply]

The table has said this for many years:
If a person did not have the legal right to vote for their government representatives in parts of a country due to their: wealth, gender, ethnicity, religion, etc... then they did not have full suffrage and the table should reflect that along with the proper note and link to further reading on that fact 🤷‍♂️ --51.7.116.255 (talk) 23:32, 28 May 2022 (UTC)[reply]
I've always understood the table to refer to suffrage at a national level only. If this isn't the case then the table needs to be fixed and it should be spelled out clearly above the table. I think we should consider a separate article for exclusively national suffrage. I'll wait a few days for further comments before taking any action though. Robert Brockway (talk) 02:49, 29 May 2022 (UTC)[reply]
If people were treated differently due to their group, gender, or ethnicity then they did not have full suffrage. The article does not say that Universal suffrage is obtained when people have partial voting rights under the law but full voting right under the law. If a person was excluded from participating because of one of the factors mentioned then they did not have full voting rights but partial ones, it's important to put that info in the notes but only being treated equally the same under the law throughout the land would count as having full suffrage rights. --51.7.116.255 (talk) 12:26, 29 May 2022 (UTC)[reply]

United Arab Emirates[edit]

The article lists male and female suffrage each from 2006. It then goes on to say:

Limited suffrage for both men and women. A hand-picked 12% of Emirati citizens have the right to vote for half the members of the Federal National Council, an advisory quasi-parliamentary body.[90] The UAE is an authoritarian state.

If that is true then the UAE does not meet the definitions for male and female suffrage given immediately above the table so the entries should have dashes. Robert Brockway (talk) 11:29, 28 May 2022 (UTC)[reply]

If the info needs updating to show that there is not full suffrage there then that should be amended. Just remember that does not include all males of different ethnicities. South Africa had male suffrage in 1910 and female suffrage in 1931 but that did not include all males or females as those who were not white couldn't vote until 1994. So make sure that it is not due to ethnic reasons, and if it is purely due to class distinctions then yes it should be changed and the information should be put in the note section along with links to further reading on the subject. --51.7.116.255 (talk) 23:38, 28 May 2022 (UTC)[reply]
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