Editing Prussian three-class franchise (section)

== Reform efforts and abolition ==
While conservative forces rejected changes to Prussia's three-class system, left-wing liberals and especially the SPD regularly demanded that the national Reichstag's voting requirements be adopted by Prussia. Especially by the turn of the century, the Prussian electoral law had come to be considered outdated and was criticized from all sides. Not only Social Democrats took to the streets against the electoral law, but progressive citizens also opposed it in petitions.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Richter |first=Hedwig |date=2015 |title=Die Konstruktion des modernen Wählers um 1900. Angeleichung der Wahltechniken in Europa und Nordamerika |trans-title=The Construction of the Modern Voter around 1900. Convergence of Voting Techniques in Europe and North America |url=https://www.academia.edu/19453333 |access-date=2022-05-12 |website=Academia |language=de}}</ref> The National Liberals, for example, called for [[Plural voting|plural suffrage]], under which certain people may vote more than once, on the model of [[Belgium]] and [[Kingdom of Saxony|Saxony]]. In addition, the National Liberals along with the Centre Party asked for direct suffrage and a redrawing of constituencies to reflect population changes.
[[File:Theobald von Bethmann Hollweg(cropped).jpg|thumb|193x193px|[[Theobald von Bethmann Hollweg]]]]
In 1910 the government of [[Theobald von Bethmann Hollweg]], who was German Chancellor and Minister President of Prussia, introduced a bill to reform the three-class electoral system, but the reform of the universally unpopular electoral law failed to pass into law because the left uncompromisingly demanded its replacement by the Reichstag electoral law. That went too far for both the more centrist liberal and the conservative forces, which were fully willing to see reform.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last=Richter |first=Hedwig |title=Moderne Wahlen. Eine Geschichte der Demokratie in Preußen und den USA im 19. Jahrhundert |publisher=Hamburger Edition |year=2017 |isbn=9783868543131 |location=Hamburg |pages=469 f |language=de |trans-title=Modern Elections. A History of Democracy in Prussia and the USA in the 19th Century}}</ref> They called for plural suffrage, which was favored by intellectuals such as [[John Stuart Mill]] and [[Otto Hintze]].<ref name=":1" />

Immediately after the fighting in World War I ended and the [[German Revolution of 1918–1919]] had brought down the [[Hohenzollern]] monarchy, the [[Council of the People's Deputies]]''',''' Germany's interim governing body, on 12 November 1918 proclaimed universal democratic suffrage. This abolished the three-class franchise in Prussia and simultaneously introduced women's suffrage throughout Germany.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Jurczyk |first=Cordula |date=2019 |title=Einführung des Frauenwahlrechts |trans-title=Introduction of Women's Right to Vote |url=https://www.dhm.de/lemo/kapitel/weimarer-republik/revolution-191819/einfuehrung-des-frauenwahlrechts |website=Deutsches Historisches Museum |language=de}}</ref>