New Zealand court rules voting age of 18 ‘discriminates against young people’: Ardern government seeks to lower it to 16
Bill to lower voting age to 16 already introduced by Arden
The final decision lies within a 120-member parliament, with a required 75% majority.
“I personally support a lowering of the age,” Arden told reporters.
<!–
<!–
<!– <!–
<!–
<!–
<!–
New Zealand’s Supreme Court ruled on Monday that the country’s current voting age of 18 violates the rights of young people, prompting the government to launch plans to lower the age to 16.
After the ruling, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern quickly unveiled a bill lowering the voting age, but warned that the changes would be difficult to pass and could not be implemented before the 2023 general election.
Ardern supports the change, but stressed that her vote would be just one in New Zealand’s 120-member parliament.
New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern speaks during a press conference on June 10, 2022 in Sydney, Australia.
“I personally support a lowering of the age, but it’s not my business or the government’s business,” he told reporters in Wellington.
‘Any change to the electoral law of this nature requires the support of 75 percent of parliamentarians.
“That’s why we think this is an issue better placed in parliament for everyone to have their say.”
Monday’s Supreme Court ruling marks the conclusion of a two-year case brought by the youth activist group ‘Make it 16’, but only parliament can lower the voting age.
The ruling means that parliament is now violating the human rights of young voters, forcing New Zealand lawmakers to consider a change.
Only a handful of countries in the world have a voting age of 16, most notably Brazil.
Academics have found that lowering the voting age tends to improve political engagement, the results vary from country to country.