First free vote for Bahraini women
Bahrain took the first step towards overturning 30 years of autocratic rule yesterday when it became the first Gulf state to hold truly democratic parliamentary elections in which women enjoyed equal voting rights with men and were allowed to contest national posts.
Thousands turned up at polling stations to elect a new 40-member legislature, despite a boycott called by four mainly Shi'ite Muslim opposition groups in protest at a constitutional amendment giving a council appointed by the king, Sheikh Hamad bin Isa Al Khalif, as much power as the elected lower chamber.
— The Guardian
A Timespace showing the evolution of women's right to vote around the world. Cover image by Giacomo Ferroni. Under construction!
