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The Guardian - AU
The Guardian - AU
World
Tess McClure in Auckland

Ardern promises bill to lower voting age to 16 in New Zealand after discrimination ruling

A couple arrive to vote at a polling station in Auckland, New Zealand, in the 2020 election
New Zealand’s supreme court ruling means MPs must now assess the issue of lowering the voting age to 16. Photograph: Mark Baker/AP

Prime minister Jacinda Ardern has said the New Zealand government will draft legislation to change the voting age to 16, after a landmark supreme court ruling that the existing age of 18 was discriminatory and breached the human rights of young people.

Ardern said she personally supported changing the age to 16, but would take the question to parliament. “It is our view that this is an issue best placed to parliament for everyone to have their say,” she said on Monday.

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