How our foremothers voted in Election 1893
As I walked to the nearest polling booth to cast my vote last Saturday, 26 November 2011, I pondered such questions as where my foremothers had voted, how far away was their nearest polling booth, what route might they have taken, by what form of transport, and so on ...
Although there is no compulsion in New Zealand to disclose our political preferences or who we vote for, there were in 1893, as in 2011, certain politically polarising issues. In essence, Election 1893 was a contest between Richard Seddon's Liberals who had governed for the previous three years and the opposition Conservatives.
The Liberals feared that the newly enfranchised women would be swayed by "clerical influence and social glamour" and so cast their votes for the Conservatives. The latter, significantly supportive of women's suffrage and anticipating their conservative views on social and religious matters would translate into votes for Conservative candidates, expected to overturn the Liberals at the polls. The result? An overwhelming Liberal victory.
Of course, it is impossible to determine at this remove, which political line any of our foremothers might have followed in 1893, but there is room for a little informed speculation ...
Read more in Election 1893 Part 2 : How our foremothers voted