Limitations on right to vote

Voting eligibility may be subject to property, income, age, sex, race, literacy, residence or nationality qualifications; vote by proxy may be inadmissible. Voting qualifications sharpen social conflict, alienation and apathy.

In Europe and the USA there are in some places, property requirements for voting in local elections. However, residence requirements are more widespread currently than property requirements, being 6 months in France and 6 months to 2 years in the USA. Most countries with a democratic voting tradition and a high literacy rate have some provision for voting by proxy. The most common minimum voting age is 21, but in certain countries it is 18; in the Netherlands it is 23. Women may not vote in certain Latin American and Muslim countries. Literacy tests remain in five Latin American countries, the Philippines and a third of the states in the USA. Negroes have been prevented from voting in South Africa, and also, until recently (although only semi-legally), in the southern USA.