New Zealand’s Supreme Court has ruled that the current voting age of 18 years old is age discriminatory.
Parliament must now consider whether to reduce the age limit for voting.
What is the voting age in New Zealand?
The voting age in New Zealand is 18 years old.
The “Make It 16” campaign wants to change this. It wants the voting age to be reduced to 16. It brought a case claiming that the minimum age limit was age discrimination.
The Make It 16 campaign
The arguments behind the campaign are that younger people are just as impacted by the decisions as those over the age of 18 and that they will inherit the future impacts of the decisions being made now.
The main concerns are:
Climate change
Housing prices and living costs
Education
Youth mental health
“This is history”
What does the decision mean?
The ruling does not mean that the voting age will be lowered. It confirms that the existing age limit is age discriminatory.
The issue will now be brought to Parliament, after the court stated that the voting age of 18 was inconsistent with the country’s Bill of Rights, which gives those 16 years and over the right to be free from age discrimination.
Will the voting age in New Zealand be lowered?
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern supports reducing the voting age to 16. However, she requires cross party support to reduce it. She said that "it is not a matter simply for me or even the government, any change in electoral law of this nature requires 75% of parliamentarian support".
Currently, not all parties support lowering the voting age. The centre-right National party opposes the move.