Many countries have lowered their voting age to 16 in recent years. We can join Wales, Scotland, Austria, Germany, the UK and many more.

Currently, jurisdictions in 17 countries have set the voting age at 16 for elections at one or more levels of government, including Germany, Austria, Scotland, Wales, Brazil, Belgium, Argentina, and 15 cities in the United States. The UK is on the way to join this list as well.

These policies go back many years. Jurisdictions in European countries began implementing this policy as early as 1989, including Hungary and several German states. As a result, we now have decades worth of research investigating the full impacts of the change. Since the 1990s, momentum has continued to build, and over 50 jurisdictions have now adopted a voting age of 16 since 2000.

Aotearoa has always been a pioneer in voting rights. We were the first country in the world to give women the right to vote. Now, we have the opportunity to lead again and give 16 and 17-year-olds the right to vote and have their voices heard.

Check out this infographic that shows a timeline of the voting age being lowered across the world: