universal suffrage

noun

: the right of all adult citizens to vote in an election

Examples of universal suffrage in a Sentence

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Prior to the ratification of the 19th Amendment, Black women worked tirelessly for universal suffrage – even as their right to vote wasn’t guaranteed across the country until the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Suzette Hackney, USA TODAY, 10 Dec. 2024 Benny Tai, a legal scholar in his 60s who organized the 2014 Umbrella Movement to press for universal suffrage, was given the longest prison term – 10 years. Ann Scott Tyson, The Christian Science Monitor, 19 Nov. 2024 For example, the new state adopted a then progressive policy of universal suffrage, including for Palestinians in Israel. Dahlia Scheindlin, Foreign Affairs, 27 Sep. 2024 There were prominent women of colour in the early suffrage movement, such as Sojourner Truth, Maria Stewart, and Frances E.W. Harper who were also fighting for universal suffrage, but they weren’t folded into the mainstream. Elfy Scott, refinery29.com, 18 Mar. 2024 And so one of those human rights was universal suffrage. Chris Klimek, Smithsonian Magazine, 22 Feb. 2024 Over time, these conditions came to include universal suffrage and the welfare state, as well as individual empowerment and market freedom. Helena Rosenblatt, Foreign Affairs, 20 Feb. 2024 Named for the umbrellas used by demonstrators to shield themselves from police pepper spray, the Umbrella Movement saw Hong Kong’s financial district immobilized for 79 days in 2014 by protesters calling for universal suffrage in the semi-autonomous Chinese city. Issy Ronald, CNN, 30 Jan. 2024 In 1900 there was not a single liberal democracy in the world (since none yet had universal suffrage); by 1950 there were twenty-two. Sean Carroll, Discover Magazine, 10 May 2010

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“Universal suffrage.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/universal%20suffrage. Accessed 22 Dec. 2024.

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