Voting is a familiar civic activity today, yet few participants are probably aware of its long and controversial history, which was especially marked in the case of France, the country chosen for this study of how people learn to vote. Casting a ballot does not come naturally, and it also requires the technology to accomplish it, besides the legal framework to regulate it. Democratization and the development of citizenship are lengthy processes, like the achievement of free and fair elections involving a secret ballot for all adults. A great experiment with mass voting for men was initiated in France in 1789, only for recurrent upheaval to ensure that the question of who could vote, and how they did so, was frequently re-examined and revised. The entire electoral system was a constant source of partisan conflict, popular protest, and innovation, throwing the great issues around voting into particularly sharp focus. This is the first book to explore the contested and contingent practice of the vote in a comprehensive fashion, over a time span that begins before the French Revolution and concludes with the present, while according significant space to local as well as national elections. The thematic analysis will assist an understanding of those countries where democracy remains in its infancy, while also offering insight into widespread contemporary concerns about declining electoral turnout. In so far as the global adoption of voting is reflected in the context of a specific society, it will be of interest to political scientists as well as historians.