1915–1916 Church of England border polls

The Church of England border polls 1915–1916 were a series of referendums held in January and February 1915 (with second polls being held in two parishes in March 1916), for residents living in nineteen Church of England ecclesiastical[a] parishes, the boundaries of which crossed the England–Wales border.

It was one of the first examples of universal suffrage in the United Kingdom prior to the introduction of the Representation of the People (Equal Franchise) Act 1928, which gave women the same voting rights as men in parliamentary elections.

[2] However, the extended franchise meant that there was no suitable register for the Commissioners to use, which exacerbated their difficulties in holding the elections.

[2] The results of the referendums were given as a Written Answer in the House of Commons by the Home Secretary, Reginald McKenna.

[9] When reporting, the Commissioners took the view that, in spite of the difficulty in conducting the elections, in all the 17 parishes for which results were published there was a "marked preponderance of opinion" in favour of remaining part of the Church of England, so they needed to take no further action.