in 1893 new zealand became the first country in the world to grant voting rights to
Women's suffrage in New Zealand The Electoral Bill granting women the franchise was given Royal Assent by Governor Lord Glasgow on 19 September 1893.[2] Women voted for the first time in the election held on 28 November 1893 (elections for the Māori electorates were held on 20 December). In 1893, Elizabeth Yates also became Mayor of Onehunga, the first time such a post had been held by a woman anywhere in the British Empire.[3]