New Zealand is considering lowering the voting age from 18 to 16 and Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has promised to bring a law in Parliament.
The decision to consider granting voting rights to 16-year-olds was taken after a landmark Supreme Court ruling that the existing age of 18 was "discriminatory" and breached human rights of young people, reported The Guardian.
Although Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern personally favors the proposal, at least 75% of the MPs in Parliament must also support the bill to lower the voting age. The government does not currently have enough support to pass such a Bill.
The Independent on Monday cited Jacinda Ardern as stating, "I personally favor a drop in the voting age, but it is not a matter merely for me or even the government; any change in electoral law of this sort requires 75% of Parliamentarian support."
The New Zealand court argued that since concerns like the climate catastrophe will disproportionately affect them and their futures, younger people should be permitted to vote on them. Only a small number of nations, including Brazil, Austria, and Cuba, permit voting by persons under the age of 18.
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