The Process

For the most part adult suffrage was the move from constitutions being ruled under the Crown Colony government to a constitution of self- governance.  It also indicated the beginning of mass Governing parties throughout the Caribbean, some of which are still in existance  today. Adult suffrage in Dominica  began in 1951 and moved into 1952.

Until 1951, only a selcted number of persons in Dominica could vote. To qualify as a voter an annual income of $30 was to be made by an individual; male labouerers recieving one shilling a day did not qualify. In 1951, this changed: every man and woman from the age of twenty-one could vote for the cadidate of their choice. This moved into 1956, when  for the first time in Dominica's history, a Constitution allowed elective and nominated members to sit on the Executive Council.