New Zealand became the world’s first self-governing country to grant women the right to vote in national elections in 1893.
The Electoral Act was passed on 19 September 1893, after a sustained campaign led by suffragists including Kate Sheppard. Women voted for the first time in the general election held later that year. The reform was significant, but it did not immediately create equal political rights in every respect: women in New Zealand could vote before they could stand for Parliament.
The campaign relied on petitions, public organizing, and arguments that women should help shape laws affecting families and communities. Māori women were also legally included in the franchise, because Māori men had already received voting rights under the 1867 Māori Representation Act, though practical barriers still affected participation. New Zealand’s milestone is sometimes described simply as the first country to grant women the vote; the more precise wording is first self-governing country to do so in national elections.