Lowering of voting age will be put to a vote

The Government will introduce a proposal to Parliament to lower the voting age to 16, the prime minister has announced, in light of a Supreme Court judgment.

However, it is unlikely to pass, with ACT and National against lowering the voting age, with the proposal needing at least 75% of Parliament to pass.

Yesterday, the court decided the current voting age is unjustified discrimination, on the basis of age, under the Bill of Rights Act.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said since the question of potentially lowering the voting age required at least 75% support of Parliament, ‘‘it should not just be a matter for consideration of the government of the day, but for the Parliament as a whole’’.

‘‘On that basis, Cabinet has resolved to draft a piece of legislation with a proposal to lower the age of voting to 16 for the whole of Parliament to consider,’’ Ardern said.

Ardern said she was in support of lowering the voting age.

National Party MP and justice spokesperson Paul Goldsmith said his party did not support lowering the voting age.

‘‘Decisions around the voting age, like other electoral laws, are decisions for a democratically accountable Parliament to make,’’ Goldsmith said. ‘‘Many aspects of our electoral law are decided by referendum or a super-majority of the Parliament because of their constitutional importance.

‘‘National’s priorities in justice are reducing violent, youth and gang crime, as well as clearing court backlogs.’’

ACT leader David Seymour said the Supreme Court should ‘‘stick to its knitting and quit the judicial activism’’.

‘‘The voting age is an entrenched provision in the Electoral Act 1993, so it would require

75% of MPs to vote for the change. In other words, it won’t happen.’’

Ardern said should the proposal pass, it would not take effect until election 2026. ‘‘The Electoral Commission would be key in determining when it could feasibly take effect.

‘‘Ultimately we see the best way for the matter to be resolved is for the whole Parliament to vote on it,’’ she said.

The Green Party and Te Pā ti Mā ori have come out in support of lowering the voting age.