Universal suffrage or universal franchise ensures the right to vote for as many people bound by a government's laws as possible, as supported by the "one person, one vote" principle. For many, the term universal suffrage assumes the exclusion of the young and non-citizens. At the same time, some insist that more inclusion is needed before suffrage can be truly universal. Democratic theorists, especially those hoping to achieve more universal suffrage, support presumptive inclusion, where the legal system would protect the voting rights of all subjects unless the government can clearly prove that disenfranchisement is necessary. Universal full suffrage includes both the right to vote, also called active suffrage, and the right to be elected, also called passive suffrage.
Voting is an important part of the formal democratic process.
The European Parliament is the only international organ elected with universal suffrage (since 1979).
Satirical drawing by Touchatout depicting the birth of universal suffrage, "one of the most sacred rights of Man, born in France on 24 february 1848."
Suffrage, political franchise, or simply franchise is the right to vote in public, political elections and referendums. In some languages, and occasionally in English, the right to vote is called active suffrage, as distinct from passive suffrage, which is the right to stand for election. The combination of active and passive suffrage is sometimes called full suffrage.
People queuing and showing their identity document for voting in the 2014 Indian general election
German election poster from 1919: Equal rights – equal duties!
A British postcard against women's suffrage postcard from c. 1908. It shows unflattering caricatures of suffragettes in front of parliament and the caption: "This is the house that man built" with a poem. From the People's History Museum, Manchester.
Women's Suffrage Headquarters on Euclid Avenue in Cleveland, Ohio, in 1912
