The court considers that the current age of the right to vote, fixed at 18 years, breaks the rights of the youngest, but only the parliament can make such a change in legislation.
Mo12345lemonde with AFP
At the end of a judgment of the Supreme Court of New Zealand, the Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern, unveiled, on Monday, November 21, a draft law to open the right to vote to the youngest. The court estimated that the current age of voting, fixed at 18, breaks the rights of the youngest, encouraging the government to consider lowering it to 16 years.
This change would be difficult to adopt and could not be applied before the 2023 general election, warned the Prime Minister. “I personally support a lowering of age, but it is not a question that concerns me or even [which concerns] the government,” she told DSE journalists in Wellington. “Any change in the electoral law of this nature requires the support of 75 % of parliamentarians. This is why, in our opinion, this is a question rather intended for Parliament, so that everyone can express themselves” , she added.
Monday’s judgment marks the outcome of two years of debate launched by the group of young activists Make IT 16 (“Pass it at 16”). But only parliament can lower the age of the right to vote. This judgment means that the rights of young people are currently flouted, which forces New Zealand legislators to examine the possibility of a change.
Only a handful of countries in the world allow their citizens to vote from the age of 16, notably Brazil. Academics have found that the decrease in the age of the right to vote tended to increase political commitment, but the balance sheet differs from one country to another.