El sufragio es el derecho político y constitucional a votar a los cargos públicos electos. En un sentido amplio, el sufragio abarca el activo, donde se determina quienes tienen derecho al votar (uso más común); y el pasivo, que se refiere a quienes y en qué condiciones tienen derecho a ser elegidos. Históricamente, numerosos colectivos han sido excluidos del derecho a votar por muchas razones: unas veces porque sus miembros eran "súbditos" de reyes feudales y no se les consideraba hombres "libres"; otras veces porque la exclusión de la votación dependía de una política explícita claramente establecida en las leyes electorales. En unas ocasiones el derecho a votar excluía a grupos que no cumplían ciertas condiciones (exclusión de analfabetos, impuestos de capitación, etc.); en otras ocasiones a un grupo se le ha permitido votar pero el sistema electoral o las instituciones del gobierno fueron diseñadas a propósito para darles menos influencia que otros grupos más favorecidos. Se suele considerar que la legitimidad política de un gobierno democrático deriva principalmente del sufragio.

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Suffrage, political franchise, or simply franchise is the right to vote in public, political elections (although the term is sometimes used for any right to vote). The right to run for office is sometimes called candidate eligibility, and the combination of both rights is sometimes called full suffrage. In many languages, the right to vote is called the active right to vote and the right to run for office is called the passive right to vote. In English, these are sometimes called active suffrage and passive suffrage. Suffrage is often conceived in terms of elections for representatives. However, suffrage applies equally to referenda and initiatives. Suffrage describes not only the legal right to vote, but also the practical question of whether a question will be put to a vote. The utility of suffrage is reduced when important questions are decided unilaterally by elected or non-elected representatives. In most democracies, eligible voters can vote in elections of representatives. Voting on issues by referendum may also be available. For example, in Switzerland this is permitted at all levels of government. In the United States, some states such as California and Washington have exercised their shared sovereignty to offer citizens the opportunity to write, propose, and vote on referendums and initiatives; other states have not. The United States federal government does not offer any initiatives at all. Suffrage is granted to qualifying citizens once they have reached the voting age. What constitutes a qualifying citizen depends on the government's decision, but most democracies no longer extend differing rights to vote on the basis of sex or race. Resident non-citizens can vote in some countries, which may be restricted to citizens of closely linked countries (e.g., Commonwealth citizens and European Union citizens).

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