(Wellington) A lobby group seeking to lower New Zealand’s voting age from 18 to 16 has won its appeal to the Supreme Court, which ruled Monday (local time) that the current law amounts to a discrimination based on age.
However, changing the voting age in New Zealand would require the agreement of a supermajority of 75% of lawmakers, and even supporters admit they lack the support to make it happen.
Proponents are hopeful, however, that initially they can lower the voting age to 16 for municipal elections, as the change only requires a regular majority of lawmakers.
A number of countries are debating the possibility of lowering the voting age. Among those that allow voting at 16 are Austria, Malta, Brazil, Cuba and Ecuador.
Sanat Singh, co-director of New Zealand’s ‘Make It 16’ campaign, said he was absolutely delighted with the court’s decision. “It’s a huge day,” he said. This is historic not only for our campaign, but also for the country”.
Mr Singh, 18, believes that existential issues like climate change – as well as issues like post-pandemic recovery and the state of democracy – will affect young people the most.
“That’s why I think it’s really important to get everyone on board to make sure we can have a stronger future,” he said.
But New Zealand’s ruling Labor Party has yet to take a position on lowering the voting age while the two main opposition parties reject such a change.
“It’s not something we support,” Opposition Leader Christopher Luxon told reporters. Ultimately, you have to draw the line somewhere, and we’re comfortable with the line being 18. »
The Green Party has indicated that it supports change.
“Young people deserve to have a say in decisions that affect them, now and in the future. We call on the government to come up with a plan to change the law to extend the voting age,” said Golriz Ghahraman, party spokesperson for electoral reform.
At the Supreme Court, four justices ruled in favor of the lobby group’s appeal, with a fifth justice disagreeing with some aspects of the decision.
In New Zealand, protection against age discrimination begins at 16 and judges ruled the attorney general failed to show why 18 was chosen as the voting age rather than 16.
The nature of the court’s decision compels New Zealand lawmakers to debate the issue, but does not compel them to make a change.
Mr Singh said he hoped that although his group does not yet have the 75% support it needs in parliament, it will get there in the next few years.
The voting age in New Zealand was lowered from 21 to 20 in 1969 and then to 18 in 1974.