The World Briefly

November 22, 2022

Wanting a Say

New Zealand

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New Zealand’s government will draft a bill to lower the voting age to 16 after the country’s supreme court ruled Monday that the existing age of 18 was discriminatory and breached the human rights of young people, the Guardian reported.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said that she supported changing the voting age but added that the issue is best left to parliament.

Her statement came following the conclusion of a two-year case brought by the Make It 16 campaign group, which followed the mobilization of tens of thousands of teenagers throughout the country for climate strikes. The climate issue has loomed large in the background of the campaign.

Many campaigners said younger people should vote on issues such as the climate crisis, which will affect them and their futures.

The supreme court’s ruling, however, will not automatically guarantee the right to vote. Instead, it notifies parliament that the human rights of younger individuals are being violated and that legislators must change the law.

Even so, observers noted that the proposed reform will face difficulties because changes to electoral law need 75 percent support in the legislature. This means it would need the support of the ruling Labour party and the opposition National party – the latter has said it sees “no compelling case to lower the age.”

Currently, only a small number of countries allow 16-year-olds to vote, including Cuba and Austria.

International campaigns to reduce the voting age have grown in recent years, with many saying that young people should have a vote in decisions with long-term impacts because they will have to live with the repercussions.

This story originally appeared in the November 22, 2022 newsletter, The Wizard of Oz.