New Zealand will not lower the voting age to 16 but will consider lengthening the notably short parliamentary term, the government has said, after a comprehensive review of the country’s electoral system that could lead to sweeping changes.
The Independent Electoral Review, set up under Jacinda Ardern’s government, released its two-year investigation into the country’s mixed-member proportional (MMP) system on Tuesday.
The 525-page document offered 117 recommendations to “remedy inequities, remove barriers and future-proof” the system, said its chair, Deborah Hart. It also aimed to improve clarity, fairness and honour the Treaty of Waitangi – New Zealand’s founding document, which upholds Māori rights.
The panel recommended lowering the voting age, because it was “confident that 16-year-olds are just as capable of making informed decisions about how to vote as 18-year-olds.”
But the justice minister, National’s Paul Goldsmith, immediately ruled it out, alongside allowing all prisoners to vote and stand for parliament.
In 2022, a landmark supreme court ruling found that the existing voting age of 18 was discriminatory and breached the human rights of young people. Ardern’s government promised to draft legislation to lower the age to 16, after the decision.
The group of young campaigners who brought the case, Make it 16, told RNZ they were disappointed the new government had ruled out a change.
Being unable to vote was “extremely disempowering”, said campaign co-director Sage Garrett.
“We see all of these decisions being made for us, like around public transport and education. [Our opinions] aren’t taken into account even though we have the desire and capability to vote.”
But the government has agreed to put in motion a referendum on the length of parliamentary terms, which the National party had already committed to as part of its coalition agreement with the minor Act party.
New Zealand’s three-year parliamentary term is one of the shortest in the world. Some who made submissions to the review believed the shorter term helped hold politicians and parties to account, while critics felt that a three-year term did not allow governments enough time to be effective and could lead to rushed lawmaking and piecemeal reform.
The panel said the arguments for and against a change were “finely balanced” but it believed a referendum should be held.
The panel also recommended lowering the party threshold to 3.5% instead of 5%, which would allow more smaller parties to enter parliament; permanently extending the length of time New Zealand citizens could vote without returning to the country; entrenching Māori electorates; and modernising the language of the Electoral Act.
Problems with political donations creating a risk of undue influence were also highlighted. Among other recommendations, the panel suggested only individuals enrolled to vote should be able to make loans or donate to parties and candidates, ruling out other entities such as trusts, companies, unions and iwi [tribes] from providing funds. It also suggested donations from individuals be capped at $30,000 per party for each election cycle and reducing the amount of money that can be donated anonymously from $1,500 to $500.
The government will now consider the other recommendations, Goldsmith said.
The panel received more than 7,500 submissions, carried out research, looked at international case studies, and considered previous reports and recommendations to inform its review.
“We present this report to you with a sense of optimism,” Hart said. “We expect electoral law to keep evolving to meet the needs of our changing society, allowing space for more voices and for future innovation.”