Yesterday Hutt City Council voted by an overwhelming majority to support a voting age of 16 for local elections. They join four other councils, the Review Into the Future of Local Government, and 73 Local Government Elected Members.

Within the last month Porirua City Council and Kapiti Coast District Council have also both passed, by large margins, resolutions supporting lowering the voting age. In 2021 Wellington City Council included advocating for lowering the voting to 16 in their Children and Young People Strategy, and Christchurch Council City submitted in support a voting age of 16 to the select committee reviewing the 2019 local elections. 73 Local Government elected members signed an open letter to cabinet in support of a separate vote in the House on the voting age for local elections.

“We would like to thank those councils and elected members who have supported us. No MP can ignore this level of support from local government” says Make It 16 co-director Caeden Tipler (they/them). “There is clear momentum for a lower voting age for local elections, which require only 51% of Parliament to change. The Government must allow a separate vote on local elections in the Bill they put to the House next year, and Parliament must pass it.”

“16 and 17 year-olds need to have a say on the buses they take, the roads they use, and the public spaces they use. We are just as affected when rubbish is not collected, our cities become unlivable, or debt we will have to pay back is racked up by councils.”

“Local Government elections also suffer from severe turnout problems. We can revitalise these elections by allowing rangatahi a say, which has been proven to increase civic engagement overseas.”

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