The Right to Vote

Voting rights and political systems around the world

Suffrage inquiry

Introduction

Voting rights and political systems differ in the extreme around the world. There are so many kinds of democracy, as well as other kinds of political systems.

This slideshow will cover the systems and whether you can or can't vote in major influential countries around the world, and the reasons why.

We will finish with a quiz to review your knowledge.

USA

Political system: federal democratic republic

Parties: Rebublicans, Democrats.

Elections held: Every four years.

To vote, you have to:

●You have to be a citizen (even if you are a resident)

●You have to be eighteen years old

●You cannot be mentally incapacitated

●Often you can’t vote if you are in prison

Canada

Political system: constitutional monarchy

Parties: Liberals, Greens, New Democratics, Conservatives, and Bloc Québécois.

Elections held: Every four years.

To vote, you have to:

●Be eighteen years or older

●Be a canadian citizen

●Be registered to vote

Australia

Political system: federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy

Parties: AU Labour, Liberal/National coalition

Elections held: Every three years

To vote, you have to:

●Must be registered

●Cannot have a mental illness

●Must be a citizen who is not living overseas

●Are not serving a prison sentence of three years or more

The UK

Political system: Constitutional Monarchy

Parties: Conservative, Labour

Elections Held: Every five years

To vote, you have to:

●be registered to vote

●be 18 or over

●be a British, Irish or qualifying Commonwealth citizen

●be resident at an address in the UK

●not be legally excluded from voting

Russia

Political system: federal semi-presidential republic

Parties: United Russia, Communist, Liberal Democratic

Elections held: Every six years

To vote, you have to:

●You have to be a citizen

●You have to be 21 or older

(Note that in Russia the voting system has been proved to be corrupt and human
right are commonly violated).

China

Political system: Authoritarian one-party

Parties: Chinese Communist Party

Elections held: Every five years

To vote, you have to: ??? (couldn’t find anything about this-I wonder why?)

Saudi Arabia

Political system: Monarchy

Parties: N/A

Elections held: N/A

To vote, you have to: N/A

Saudi Arabia is one of the only monarchies left in the world.

Fun facts

●There are just seven monarchies in the world- UAE, Saudi arabia, Eswatini,
Oman, Brunei, Qatar, and the Vatican city.

●Similarly, there are just five communist countries in the world: China, North
Korea, Cuba, Laos, and Vietnam.

●NZ was the first country to let women vote.

●The most commonly used voting system is party-list PR, used in 85
countries.

Quiz

Next is a quiz to review what you have learnt. If you need to, look back across the previous slides for some last-minute revision.

Alternatively, you can play the quiz at https://quizizz.com/join/quiz/642392bbdf534b001d1dfc5b/start

Where you can challenge others and more.

Multiple Choice

Among the countries assessed, what is the most common age you have to be to vote?

• 18

• 16

• 21

• !8

Draw

Circle the constitutional monarchy which has the longest distance between elections.

Multiple Choice

What electoral system is used in Canada?

• Constitutional monarchy

• Monarchy

• Democracy

• Constitutional democracy

Multiple Select

What do you NOT commonly need to do in order to vote?

• Register to vote

• Have voted last election

• Vote for the right party

• Be a citizen

• Be living in the country

Multiple Choice

Which country gave women the vote first?

• Brunei

• New Zealand

• The UK

• USA

• Australia

Multiple Choice

Which philosophy has more countries following it (as of 2023)?

• Communism

• Monarchy

Fill in the Blank

Bloc Québécois is a party in ...

Multiple Choice

What is the most commonly used voting system?

• MMP

• Party list PR

• Constitutional Monarchy

• Democracy

Conclusion

In conclusion, political system around the world are all completely different, though voting rights are much more similar. In most democratic countries you need to be 18+, registered to vote (something which is usually automatic), and a citizen of the country you are voting in. Of course, in stark contrast, electoral/voting systems differ completely: There are over fifty ways to elect a leader.