Oliver Hartwich: Children's crusade 2.0

In a courageous move, the New Zealand Government introduced a bill that would allow 16-year-olds to vote in local elections.

Yes, you read that right: 16. Because if Jesus had had a say in New Zealand politics, he would proclaim, “Let the little children come to the ballot box, for theirs is the kingdom of representative democracy.”

Only fools would criticise our government for being childish. Because, as history shows us, children are capable of remarkable things.

Chris Trotter: The Numbers That Matter.

Did the independent electoral law review panel pause to wonder why New Zealand citizens become eligible to vote at 18? It’s a long and convoluted story, very little of which has much to do with cool, calm, considered cogitation. Like most of our constitutional milestones, the age of enfranchisement is the product of superstition, tradition, and political agitation. Rationality has only ever played a bit-part in this drama.

Geoffrey Churchman: Votes for 16 year olds?

The first general election I voted in was in 1975 at the age of 18, and in fact it was the first election in which 18-year-olds could vote in NZ. Politicians showed up at Victoria University to appeal to new voters, and I can remember that then Labour Prime Minister Bill Rowling did not get a good reception, being showered with paper darts. He experienced a landslide defeat that year.

But that was 47 years ago, and times have changed.

Eric Crampton: Make it zero

There’s a fundamental arbitrariness to almost any voting age. Except one.

I have a modest proposal.

Every person in New Zealand should be represented in Parliament, regardless of age. So the voting age should be zero.

You might raise an obvious objection. If sixteen-year-olds, eighteen-year-olds, and even some thirty-year-olds are of dubious maturity and suitability for the franchise, how on earth might a ten-year-old or an infant cast an informed ballot?

Roger Partridge: Bill of Rights contortions

A funny thing happened in the Supreme Court this week. The Court found that the Bill of Rights breached… the Bill of Rights. Only Justice Kos dissented.

The majority decision did not quite put it that way. But perhaps the judges were blind to the implications of their views.

The perplexing case concerned arguments that 16-year-olds should have the right to vote.

The Court’s decision to hear the case was controversial enough.

But its finding that 16-year-olds suffer unjustified discrimination breaching the Bill of Rights has been met with widespread disbelief.

Michael Bassett: Jacinda's twaddle about holding parents to account

When I was young, kids appeared before a magistrate (a District Court Judge before 1978) sufficiently rarely that questions were raised about the young person’s family, and inadequate parental supervision. Sometimes the magistrate would rebuke the parents if a child had been wagging school, or had been out late and was unsupervised. Remedial action was usually fairly swift: parents took steps to look after their children lest there was further police action.

Barbara McKenzie: NZ Children Can’t Read or Write, So Let Them Vote

The New Zealand Supreme Court has ruled in favour of lowering the voting age to 16.

‘Justice France told the court it was inconsistent with the Bill of Rights to not allow 16-year-olds to vote, and the decision of the Court of Appeal was overturned.’

Jacinda Ardern announced the same day, 21 November, that the Cabinet had decided ‘to draft a piece of legislation with a proposal to lower the age to 16 for the whole of Parliament to consider’. While the required 75% majority makes its success unlikely, Labour’s present majority means this may be its best chance for a long time, and if the Bill does gets through, it will be very difficult to reverse. However it comes at an interesting time:

Darroch Ball: Will They Lower the ‘Youth Court’ Age?

The ‘Make It 16’ campaign has recently had a decision by the courts go their way in seeking the voting age be lowered to 16. The issue has been around for some time, but for some reason it has now taken a new step with the campaign going through the courts.

When the original campaign was launched in 2019, the then Children’s Commissioner Andrew Becroft and the likes of the Greens also joined the chorus commenting that if the voting age were lowered it would give youth a voice and increase civic participation and voter turnout. This argument makes no sense on so many levels it is pretty difficult to figure out where to begin.

Peter Dunne: 16 - 17 year olds right to vote

It is difficult to escape the conclusion that the government was delighted with this week’s ruling from the Supreme Court that excluding sixteen- and seventeen-year-olds from the right to vote was inconsistent with the Bill of Rights Act. Not because of the weight of the legal argument, nor the morality of the cause, but simply because the ruling provided the government with a huge distraction from all the other problems confronting it at present.

Under Section 7 of the Bill of Rights Act, whenever a declaration is made that an action is inconsistent with the Act, the Minister responsible is required to report to Parliament within six months of the declaration what actions the government is proposing to take. In this case, the government has until the end of May next year to advise Parliament of its response to the Court’s ruling.

Cam Slater: Do We Have Dunces on the Supreme Court?

The Supreme Court has added even more judicial meddling to their long list of idiotic decisions. Yesterday they decided that the Bill of Rights is inconsistent with the Bill of Rights. I’m not kidding.

Bryce Edwards: The High barriers to lowering the voting age

Sixteen-year-olds aren’t about to get the right to vote anytime soon. Despite yesterday’s Supreme Court declaration that a voting age of 18 violates the Bill of Rights, there are still many barriers to get over before the voting age could be lowered.

In fact, as a best-case scenario, youth voting campaigners are now setting their sights on 2029 as the first general election for 16-year-olds to vote in, and perhaps 2025 as the first time that they might be able to vote in local government elections. But to get an extended franchise by these dates would require that the following very high barriers be overcome.