The Court of Appeal has dismissed a case to lower New Zealand's voting age to 16 years old.
Make It 16 has been campaigning for 16 year olds to be given the right to vote since July 2019. The group claimed New Zealand's voting age of 18 is inconsistent with the Bill of Rights Act.
The group took their fight to court earlier in the year but lost. The court found while the current voting age was "inconsistent with the right to be free from age discrimination", it was a "justified limit".
While the Bill of Rights Act states every citizen 18 or over has the right to vote, section 19 says "everyone has the right to freedom from discrimination on the grounds of discrimination in the Human Rights Act 1993", which kicks in at age 16.
The Bill of Rights Act says limits on freedoms "may be subject only to such reasonable limits prescribed by law as can be demonstrably justified in a free and democratic society".
Make It 16 appealed the decision but on Tuesday, the Appeal Court dismissed the case.
In the decision, Justice Christine French acknowledged there were opposing views on the matter. But she said it was "an intensely and quintessentially political issue involving the democratic process itself and on which there are a range of reasonable views".
"That being the context, we choose to exercise restraint and decline the application for declarations."
Make It 16 co-director Cate Tipler told Stuff the group will continue fighting for young people to be able to vote.
"The Court agreed that the current voting age is not justified but chose to use their discretion not to issue a declaration of inconsistency. That gives strong support to our belief that preventing 16 and 17 year-olds from voting is unjustified age discrimination," Tipler told Stuff.
Green Party electoral reform spokesperson Golriz Ghahraman agreed.
"Although the Court's decision is restricted to whether or not the limitation on the right to vote is justified in law, it again made clear that the current law does breach the rights of 16 and 17 year olds. Parliament can and must alleviate that breach," Ghahraman said in a statement.
"More than ever, the decisions made by politicians today will impact the world young New Zealanders inherit from us.
"Young people in Aotearoa and around the globe are demanding change so they and future generations have a better world to live in. This includes action to ensure a liveable planet, a thriving natural environment, and affordable homes."
She said 16 and 17 year olds can work, pay taxes, drive, and leave home - and they should also be able to have a say in their future.
"They deserve to have a say in the decisions that affect them, both now and in the future. My Strengthening Democracy Member's Bill would help ensure more people's voices to count in our democracy by lowering the voting age to 16.
"Not only would this change create a more representative democracy, but it would also provide more opportunities to engage young people in politics while they're at school.
"We know once people enrol, voting becomes a life-long habit, which is great for the long-term health of our democracy."
Several countries already have a voting age as low as 16, including Austria, Scotland, Argentina, Wales, Cuba, Brazil, Nicaragua and Ecuador. In most countries it's 18, but some restrict people until they're in their early 20s, including Malaysia and Singapore.
