Universal suffrage

The concept of universal franchise, also known as general suffrage or common suffrage, consists of the right to vote of all adult citizens, regardless of wealth, income, race, or ethinicity, subject only to minor exceptions. In its original 19th-century usage by political reformers, universal suffrage was understood to mean only universal manhood suffrage; the vote was extended to women later, during the women's suffrage movement. There are variations among countries in terms of specifics of the right to vote; the minimum age is usually between 18 and 25 years (see age of majority) and 'the insane, certain classes of convicted criminals, and those punished for certain electoral offenses' sometimes lack the right to vote. In the United States, the term 'suffrage' is often associated specifically with women's suffrage; a movement to extend the franchise to women began in the mid-nineteenth century and culminated in 1920, when the United States ratified the Nineteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, guaranteeing the right of women to vote.