Editing Kate Sheppard (section)

===1893 Electoral Bill===
The Electoral Bill of 1893, which granted women full voting rights, successfully passed in the House of Representatives in August. Few MPs were willing to vote against it, fearing that women would vote against them in the general election later that year. Many therefore chose to be absent from the house during votes. Henry Fish attempted to delay the proposed statute by calling for a national referendum,{{sfn|Devaliant|1992|pp=104, 110–111}} but the bill progressed to the Legislative Council. After several attempts to stymie passage failed, the legislation passed 20 votes to 18 on 8 September.{{sfn|Devaliant|1992|pp=111–113}} The bill now needed the governor's signature, and although Governor [[David Boyle, 7th Earl of Glasgow|David Boyle]] did not support women's suffrage and was slow to sign, he eventually did so on 19 September.{{sfn|Devaliant|1992|pp=113–118}} Sheppard was widely acknowledged as the leader of the women's suffrage movement.{{sfn|Malcolm|2013}}{{sfn|Adas|2010|pp=91–92}}