The CIA World Factbook Edition 2020 Government
Suffrage In 36 editions of 36.
Suffrage was published in 36 editions of the CIA World Factbook, from 1990 to 2025. The 2020 edition carries it in 235 entries, in its Government section. Every entry is shown as that edition published it.
- entries in the 2020 edition
- 235
- the first edition with it
- 1990
- the latest edition with it
- 2025
Published as “Suffrage” (1990 to 2025).
the entry has the field in that editionnot in that editionthe open editionEach entry below ends in its editions with Suffrage, 1990 to 2025. Point at a year above to follow it down; choose one in a row to read that edition’s text there.
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Entries with Suffrage in each edition
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Africa
56 entriesCongo, Democratic Republic of the now Democratic Republic of the Congo
18 years of age; universal and compulsory
Tunisia
18 years of age; universal except for active government security forces (including the police and the military), people with mental disabilities, people who have served more than three months in prison (criminal cases only), and people given a suspended sentence of more than six months
Western Sahara
none; (residents of Moroccan-controlled Western Sahara participate in Moroccan elections)
Arctic Region
2 entriesAsia
22 entriesKorea, South now South Korea
- 18years of age;
- universal;
- note - the voting age was lowered from 19 to 18 beginning with the 2020 national election
Pakistan
- 18 years of age;
- universal;
- note - there are joint electorates and reserved parliamentary seats for women and non-Muslims
Central America and the Caribbean
32 entriesDominican Republic
- 18 years of age;
- universal and compulsory;
- married persons regardless of age can vote;
- note - members of the armed forces and national police by law cannot vote
Guatemala
- 18 years of age;
- universal;
- note - active duty members of the armed forces and police by law cannot vote and are restricted to their barracks on election day
Puerto Rico
- 18 years of age;
- universal;
- note - island residents are US citizens but do not vote in US presidential elections
Virgin Islands
- 18 years of age;
- universal;
- note - island residents are US citizens but do not vote in US presidential elections
Europe
49 entriesEuropean Union
- 18 years of age (16 years in Austria);
- universal;
- voting for the European Parliament is permitted in each member state
Middle East
15 entriesLebanon
- 21 years of age;
- authorized for all men and women regardless of religion;
- excludes persons convicted of felonies and other crimes or those imprisoned;
- excludes all military and security service personnel regardless of rank
Oman
- 21 years of age;
- universal;
- note - members of the military and security forces by law cannot vote
United Arab Emirates
limited; note - rulers of the seven emirates each select a proportion of voters for the Federal National Council (FNC) that together account for about 12 percent of Emirati citizens
North America
5 entriesOceania
25 entriesGuam
- 18 years of age;
- universal;
- note - Guamanians are US citizens but do not vote in US presidential elections
Northern Mariana Islands
- 18 years of age;
- universal;
- note - indigenous inhabitants are US citizens but do not vote in US presidential elections
South America
13 entriesArgentina
- 18-70 years of age;
- universal and compulsory;
- 16-17 years of age - optional for national elections
Brazil
- voluntary between 16 to 18 years of age, over 70, and if illiterate;
- compulsory between 18 to 70 years of age;
- note - military conscripts by law cannot vote
Ecuador
- 18-65 years of age;
- universal and compulsory;
- 16-18, over 65, and other eligible voters, voluntary
Southeast Asia
16 entriesHong Kong
- 18 years of age in direct elections for half of the Legislative Council seats and all of the seats in 18 district councils;
- universal for permanent residents living in the territory of Hong Kong for the past 7 years;
- note - in indirect elections, suffrage is limited to about 220,000 members of functional constituencies for the other half of the legislature and a 1,200-member election committee for the chief executive drawn from broad sectoral groupings, central government bodies, municipal organizations, and elected Hong Kong officials
Macau
- 18 years of age in direct elections for some legislative positions, universal for permanent residents living in Macau for the past 7 years;
- note - indirect elections are limited to organizations registered as "corporate voters" and an election committee for the chief executive drawn from broad regional groupings, municipal organizations, central government bodies, and elected Macau officials
Taiwan
- 20 years of age;
- universal;
- note - in mid-2016, the Legislative Yuan drafted a constitutional amendment to reduce the voting age to 18, but it has not passed as of December 2017
Cite this page
Central Intelligence Agency. The World Factbook 2020, “Suffrage”, all entries. Archived by The Factbook, thefactbook.org/fields/suffrage/2020.