/. UNITED NATIONS Distr. GENERAL IG ENE R A l A/4159 23 July 1959 ASSEMBLY ENGLISH ORIGINAL: ENGLISH/ FRENCH/ SPANISH Fourteenth session CONSTITUTIONS, ELECTORAL LAVIS AND OTHER LEGAL INSTRUMENTS RELATING TO POLITICAL RIGHTS OF HOMEN Memorandum by the Secretary-General 1. The Secretary-General has the honour to circulate herewith the annual memorandum on progress achieved in the field of political rights of women!/ prepared in pursuance of Economic and Social Council resolution 120 A (VI) of 3 March 1948. 2. The present document, in accordance with the suggestion contained in resolution 1 A (XIII) adopted by the Commission on the Status of Homen at its t~rteenth session)Y is a consolidated revision of document A/2692, presented to the ninth session of the General Assembly and succeeding memoranda, and has been brought up to date as of 25 June 1959. It embodies, where available, provisions taken from constitutions, electoral laws and other legal instruments which grant, restrict or deny women the right to vote and to be elected to public office. Information on the eligibility of women for election is included in accordance with a re~uest of the Commission on the Status of Homen made at its tenth session.l/ 3. In preparing the present memorandum the Secretary-General has also been guided by Economic and Social Council resolution 587 B (XX) of 3 August 1955 by which the Council re~uested him to include in this report information on all the States which are Members of the United Nations and/or the specialized agencies and/or Parties to the Statute of the International Court of Justice, .and to include information available to him on States non-members of these organizations For previous reports, see documents A/619 and Add.l and 2 and Corr.l; A/1163, A/1342 and Corr.l, A/1911, A/2154 and Add.l and 2, A/2462, A/2692 .and Corr.l, A/2952 and Add.l, A/3145 and Add.l, A/3627 and Corr.l and A/3889. ;}./ See Official Records of the Economic and Social Council, Twenty-eighth Session, Supplement 1\o. 7, document E/3228, para. 30. 3/ E/2850, para. 30. 59-17866 I ... A/4159 English Page 2 and not parties to the Statute of the International Court of Justice in Annex II to the report, The designations of' countries and territories and the arrangement of ~aterial in this document should not be considered as implying any endorsement or other judgement by the Secretariat of the United Nations regarding the legal status of any country or territory, or of its authorities, or in respect of the delimitation of its boundaries. The texts of the relevant provisions of the legal instruments referred to are given below. 4. In addition to the texts referred to in paragraph 2 above, the following tables are also included in the present memorandum, I. Countries where women may vote in all elections and are eligible for election on an equal basis with men. II. Countries where the right to vote and/or the eligibility of women are subject to restrictions not imposed on men. III. Countries where women may vote and be elected in local elections only. IV. (a) Countries where women have voting rights but are not eligible for election, (b) Countries where women have no voting rights but are eligible for election. (c) Countries where women have no voting rights and are not eligible for election. V. Countries in which action has been taken since 1945 (signature of' the United Nations Charter) extending full or limited rights to wo~en. VI. Dates on which women were first granted the right to vote in national elections. VII. Countries where women may vote on equal terms with men, but where suffrage grants originally involved limitations on the ground of sex. VIII. Countries Which have signed, ratified or acceded to the Convention on the Political Rights of' Women as of 25 June 1959. I ... A/4159 English Page 3 5. Reservations to the Convention on the Political Rights of Women and objections to the reservations are contained in annex I to the present report. AFGHANISTAN - Act of 1931 regarding elections to the National Council Article 3. Electors shall satisfy the following conditions: (a) they shall be Afghan subjects; (b) they shall be more than twenty years of age; (c) they shall be domiciled in the electoral district. or have been resident therein for not less than one year immediately preceding the elections. Article 6. Candidates for election, that is to say, deputies, shall satisfy the following conditions: (a) they shall be Afghan subjects; (b) if they are of foreign origin, they shall have been resident in Afghanistan for ten years since the acg_uisi tion of Afghan nationality; (c) they shall, as far as possible, be able to read and write; (d) they shall be not less than twenty-five years of age for the first four elections and not less than thirty years of age for elections thereafter, and shall be not more than seventy years of age; (e) they shall be known for their honesty and probity. NOTE: Tt/omen are not allowed to vote or to be elected in Afghanistan. ALBANIA - Constitution of 4 July 1950 Article 16. Every citizen, without distinction as to sex, nationality, race, creed, degree of education or residence, who has attained the age of eighteen years, shall be entitled to vote and may be elected to any organ of the State. I ... A/4159 English Page 4 ARGENTINA- Women's Suffrage Act of 23 September 1947 Article 1. Argentine women shall have the same political rights and be subject to the same obligations as are granted to or imposed on Argentine men by law, Article 2. Female'aliens resident in Argentina shall have the same political rights, if any, and be subject to the same obligations as are granted to or imposed on male aliens by law. Article 3. The same electoral law shall be applicable to women as to men. Constitution of 1 May 1853, as amended in 1860, 1866 and 189~/ Article 16. All its inhabitants (of the Argentine Confederation) are equal before the law, and admissible for employment without any other requisite than fitness. Equality is the basis of taxation and of the public burdens. Article 36. The legislative power of the nation shall be vested in a Congress consisting of two Chambers, a Chamber of Deputies of the Argentine Nation and a Senate of the Provinces and Capital. By a proclamation dated 27 April 1956 the Constitution of 11 March 1949 was repealed and the Constitution of 1 !cay 1853, as amended, brought back into force. (Information provided by the Permanent Mission of Argentina to the United Nations for inclusion in the Yearbook on Human Rights for 1956). A/4159 English Page 5 Article 40. To be elected a deputy, a person must have attained the age of twenty-five years, have exercised civic rights for four years, have been born in the province or have resided in the province for which he is to be chosen during the two years immediately preceding his election. Artoicle 47. To be elected a senator, a Ierson must have attained the age of thirty years, have exercised civic rights for six years, have an annual income of two thousand pesos or an equivalent salary, have been born in the province or have resided in the province for which he is to be chosen during the two years immediately preceding his election. Legislative Decree No, 4034 of 22 April 1957 (Electoral System) Article l. (As amended by Legislative Decree No. 15,099 of 15 November 1957) All natural-born citizens and citizens by option or naturalization of both sexes ><ho are over eighteen years of age are national electors, provided that they are qualified and are registered in the electoral list. Article 2. Eligibility to vote shall be established solely on the basis of the Electoral Register drawn up in accordance with the provisions of this Legislative Decree. Article 14. All the functions conferred on electors by this Legislative Decree constitute a public duty and may not, therefore, be renounced. Article 16. Each electoral office shall maintain a district electoral register, which shall include a card for each elector domiciled in the electoral district. The register shall be divided into two parts 'according to sex and each part shall be further divided into three sub-sections. j ... A/4159 English Page 6 Article 17. The national register of electors shall be prepared by the electoral magistrate of the Capital of the Republic and shall contain copies of the cards of all the electors in the country, divided into two main categories according to the sex of electors ... Article 6o. (as amended by Legislative Decree No. 15,099 of 15 November 1957) · Within forty days of the issue of the writ ordering an election, political parties shall lodge with the electoral magistrate the lists of their publicly announced candidates. Candidates shall be qualified electors and eligible to hold office ... AUSTFALIA - The Commonwealth Electoral Act 1918 - 1953 Section 39. (l) Subject to the disqualifications set out in this Part Lof the Ac!7, all persons not under twenty-one years of age, whether male or female, married or unmarried ,,, shall be entitled to enrolment subject to the provisions of Part VII of this Act. (3) All persons whose names are on the roll for any Electoral Division shall, subject to this Act, be entitled to vote at elections of Members of the Senate for the State of which the Division forms part and at elections of Members of the House of Representatives for the Division ••• The Constitution of the Commonwealth, 1900 Section 16.