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1893: how New Zealand women won the vote

In 1893 New Zealand became the first self-governing country where all women could vote. The petitions, the campaigners, the close votes in Parliament, and the first election.

By NZ ElectionUpdated 3 min read

1893: the year women won the vote: 1893: how New Zealand women won the vote
In this guide
  1. Why women wanted the vote
  2. The petitions
  3. Kate Sheppard
  4. Getting it through Parliament
  5. The first election
  6. What came next
  7. Why it still matters
  8. Questions and answers
  9. Sources

On 19 September 1893, the Governor, Lord Glasgow, signed the Electoral Act 1893 into law. It made New Zealand the first self-governing country in the world in which all women had the right to vote in parliamentary elections. Ten weeks later, women voted in a general election for the first time.

Here's how it happened.

Quick answer

  • When: the law was signed on 19 September 1893.
  • First vote: the general election on 28 November 1893.
  • How: years of campaigning and a series of huge petitions, led by Kate Sheppard and the Women's Christian Temperance Union.
  • The 1893 petition: 13 petitions with 31,872 signatures in total. The largest, the "monster petition", had 25,519.
  • Enrolled: 109,461 women enrolled for the 1893 election.
  • Standing for Parliament: women couldn't stand until 1919.

Why women wanted the vote

In the 1880s, a growing movement argued that women should have a say in the laws that governed them. Many campaigners were involved in the temperance movement, which wanted to limit alcohol. Others argued simply for equal citizenship. The Women's Christian Temperance Union (WCTU), founded in New Zealand in 1885, became the backbone of the campaign.

The petitions

Campaigners used petitions to show Parliament how many people wanted change.

  1. 1891: petitions with more than 9,000 signatures were presented to Parliament.
  2. 1892: more petitions, with nearly 20,000 signatures.
  3. 1893: 13 petitions with 31,872 signatures. The largest, glued together into a roll about 270 metres long, carried 25,519 signatures. It was unrolled across the floor of the debating chamber.

The surviving 1893 petition is held by Archives New Zealand and is listed on UNESCO's Memory of the World register.

Kate Sheppard

Kate Sheppard led the WCTU's franchise department and organised the petitions. She wrote pamphlets, letters and articles, and co-ordinated campaigners across the country. She appears on New Zealand's $10 note.

Many others were central to the campaign, including Māori women. Meri Te Tai Mangakāhia addressed the Kotahitanga Māori Parliament in 1893, asking that women be allowed to vote for and stand in it.

Getting it through Parliament

The bill faced close votes in the Legislative Council, the appointed upper house. Some members who opposed it changed their votes, and the bill passed by 20 votes to 18. Premier Richard Seddon opposed it but couldn't stop it. Opponents then asked the Governor to withhold his assent. He signed it anyway on 19 September 1893.

The first election

Women had only about ten weeks to enrol before the general election on 28 November 1893. 109,461 women enrolled, and most of them voted. In the same year, Elizabeth Yates became mayor of Onehunga, the first woman mayor in the British Empire.

Milestones in the vote

  1. 1853First general election: 37 seats, men with property only.
  2. 1867Four Māori seats created.
  3. 1870Secret ballot introduced.
  4. 1879Property test dropped, so all adult men can vote; terms cut from five years to three.
  5. 1893Women win the vote, a world first for a self-governing country.
  6. 1919Women can stand for Parliament.
  7. 1933Elizabeth McCombs becomes the first woman MP.
  8. 1951Upper house abolished.
  9. 1974Voting age lowered to 18.
  10. 1993Referendum chooses MMP.
  11. 1996First MMP election.
Sources: NZHistory, Te Ara, Electoral Commission.

What came next

  • 1919: women could stand for Parliament.
  • 1933: Elizabeth McCombs became the first woman MP.
  • 1949: Iriaka Rātana became the first Māori woman MP.
  • 1997: Jenny Shipley became the first woman Prime Minister.

Why it still matters

The 1893 vote is a big part of how New Zealand sees itself. Suffrage Day, 19 September, is marked each year, and white camellias, worn by supporters of the 1893 bill, are still a symbol of the campaign.

Questions and answers

When did women get the vote in New Zealand?

The Electoral Act 1893 was signed on 19 September 1893. Women first voted at the general election on 28 November 1893.

Was New Zealand the first country to give women the vote?

It was the first self-governing country in which all women could vote in parliamentary elections. Some smaller territories and states had given some women the vote earlier.

Who was Kate Sheppard?

The leader of the women's suffrage campaign in New Zealand, who organised the petitions to Parliament for the Women's Christian Temperance Union.

How many people signed the 1893 suffrage petition?

The 13 petitions presented in 1893 had 31,872 signatures. The largest, the "monster petition", had 25,519.

When could women stand for Parliament?

From 1919. The first woman MP, Elizabeth McCombs, was elected in 1933.

Sources

This guide is general information about New Zealand elections, checked against the sources linked above on 3 November 2026. For anything about your own enrolment or vote, check vote.nz or call the Electoral Commission on 0800 36 76 56.

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