1893 Women get the vote
Since 1875, women had been able to vote in all municipal elections. In 1891 English immigrant Kate Sheppard, detecting an undercurrent of desire for electoral change, organised a nationwide petition that sought to give women the right to vote in nationwide elections. Much of the impetus for change came from men, who argued that women would bring a more civilised and considered approach to politics.
Sheppard's petition gained 10,000 signatures in its first year. By the end of 1892, she had gathered 30,000 – approximately 4 percent of New Zealand's entire population – making it proportionally the largest petition ever presented to a New Zealand Parliament. In 1893, a collection of thirteen petitions – with 32,000 female signatories in total – was presented, again hastening the campaign's momentum. The Electoral Act came into force on 19 September 1893, securing all adult women the right to vote. New Zealand thus became the first sovereign state in the world to grant this right.
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