May 12, 2022
Rangatahi seat voice at polls
Rangatahi advocates are using Aotearoa Youth Week to push for lowering the voting age to 16.
Christina Leef from Ara Taiohi charitable trust says it’s a way to give young people a greater hand in shaping New Zealand.
She says 16 year olds already hold lots of responsibility and are able to make decisions that affect the rest of their life.
“Why not be able to be part of shaping Aotearoa and there’s such a high population of young people, approaching a million now surely, at least by the time we are able to vote again as a nation, so young rangatahi 16 years old should be able to have their voices heard on that national scale,” Ms Leef says.