Suffrage

Suffrage is the civil right to vote, or the exercise of that right. In that context it is also called political franchise or simply the franchise, a term dating from the time when the Franks of ancient France were free.

Forms of exclusion from suffrage

Race or ethnicity

See the article on universal Suffrage

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Gender

See women's suffrage

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Social class

Up until the 19th century, many Western democracies had property qualifications in their electoral laws, that meant that only people with a certain degree of wealth could vote. Today these laws have largely been abolished. However in some countries this still applies in practice (although perhaps unintentionally) even though not in law; most democratic countries require an address for the electors to be qualified to vote. In practice, this excludes all those who have not achieved enough wealth as to have the means to own or rent living quarters, such as the homeless. Many also discriminate on the basis of criminal or psychiatric record (see below) which are very strongly correlated with class.

Related Topics:
19th century - Homeless

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Age

Despite the boast of universal suffrage, all modern democracies require voters to meet age qualifications to vote and deny the right to vote to individuals below the voting age. Often overlooked, young people under the voting age make up 20-50% of the population in some countries, and have no political representation. Worldwide voting ages are not consistent, fluctuating between countries and indeed within countries, usually between 15 and 21. Following movements to enfranchise women, minorities and the poor, a world wide youth suffrage movement is now brewing. An integral part of the wider youth rights movement, youth suffrage proponents seek to lower or abolish the voting age.

Related Topics:
Universal suffrage - Voting age - Youth suffrage - Youth rights

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In all democratic countries, young people are excluded from voting in local and national elections, though the voting age is set at different ages ranging from 15 to 21. The option of qualifying by 'rite of passage' tests to certify a person's competence to vote responsibly is yet to be widely debated. One analogy is with the 'right' to drive is obvious, where few advocate that people of any age should be free to drive motor vehicles on public roads without first demonstrating practical skills and theoretical knowledge.

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There have been proposals to lower the national voting age to 16 in the United Kingdom.

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Prisoners and other excluded groups

Many countries have disenfranchisement of sentenced prisoners, in the USA voting privileges are denied to prisoners by some states, however several others (Canada and most of the countries of the European Union) allow prisoners to vote, regardless of time served, nature of the crime, etc. Some countries (and 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. the felony disfranchisement laws found in many U.S. states) the denial of the right to vote is automatic on conviction of a serious criminal offence; in other cases (e.g. provisions found in many parts of continental Europe) the denial of the right to vote is an additional penalty that the court can choose to impose, over and above the penalty of imprisonment, such as in France or Germany. Another exemption from the right to vote is made by some countries for people in psychiatric facilities. In the United Kingdom, peers who are members of the House of Lords (all up until reforms in 1999) are also excluded from voting in general elections.

Related Topics:
Felony disfranchisement - U.S. state - Continental Europe - France - Germany - United Kingdom - Peer - House of Lords

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