New Zealand was the first self-governing country in the world to grant women the vote in national parliamentary elections.
The breakthrough came through years of campaigning led by figures including Kate Sheppard and supported by the Women’s Christian Temperance Union. Petitioners repeatedly pressured Parliament; the 1893 petition collected nearly 32,000 signatures, a remarkable figure for the period. Governor Lord Glasgow signed the Electoral Act on 19 September 1893.
New Zealand women first voted in the 1893 general election. The law enfranchised Māori and European women aged 21 and over, making the achievement broader than many earlier voting reforms elsewhere. Women could vote, but they could not stand for Parliament until legislation changed in 1919.
The wording can cause confusion because some women in other territories had earlier local or limited voting rights. New Zealand’s distinction concerns universal female voting in national parliamentary elections within a self-governing country, not every form of local franchise.