New Zealand women encouraged to vote in elections

New Zealand on Monday marked 123 years since it gave women the vote, with calls for greater participation in elections amid steadily declining turnouts.

The best way to recognize the significance of the women's suffragist achievement 123 years ago was to engage and participate in the democratic process today, Minister for Women Louise Upston said in a statement.

"Women's right to vote was a massive step towards gender equality and should never be considered lightly," said Upston.

Elections this month for local authorities around the country were a perfect time to remind women to exercise their democratic right "and, in so doing, honor the suffragists who battled long and hard to give us a political voice," she said.

The 2013 Census showed New Zealand had more than 1.66 million women aged 18 years and over, compared with about 1.53 million men, said a statement from the government's Statistics New Zealand agency Monday.

Women were more likely than men to vote in general and local government elections.

In a survey after the 2011 general election, more than 80 percent of women said they had voted, compared with about 77 percent of men.

Voter turnout was lower for local government elections, at less than 65 percent for women and 62 percent for men.

Voter turnout hit a high of 93.7 percent in the 1984 general election, but this had slipped to 77.9 percent by the last general election in September 2014, according to the Electoral Commission. Endit