November 21, 2022
Voting age campaign gets Supreme backing
The Supreme Court has found in favour of the Make It 16 campaign and ruled that the minimum voting age of 18 is inconsistent with the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act.
The group, which wants to have the voting age lowered to 16 years, argued the provisions setting the minimum voting age in the Electoral Act 1993 and the Local Electoral Act 2001 are inconsistent with the right to freedom from discrimination on the basis of age which is protected by s 19 of the Act.
The Court of Appeal has found the Act was inconstant, but refused to make a declaration.
The Supreme Court says its declaration leave open the possibility that the limit of 18 could later be held to be justified, and the actual setting of the voting age is a decision for parliament.
In a dissenting opinion, Justice Stephen Kós said he considers the explicit right to vote in parliamentary elections at 18 years, affirmed by section 12 of the Bill of Rights (and prescribed in the Electoral Act), prevails over the generalised right to freedom from discrimination affirmed by section 19.