John MacDonald: What's so scary about 16-year-olds voting?

How do you feel about 16 and 17-year-olds voting?

I’m all for it. Labour leader Chris Hipkins is, too.

Although, I’d go further than what he’s talking about.

He’s announced that, if Labour forms the next government, it will allow 16 and 17-year-olds to vote in local body elections.

But, if you’re going to do that, why not let them vote in general elections too?

Make It 16, the group that’s been campaigning for youth voting rights, is pretty pleased with Labour. It says allowing young people to vote would strengthen democracy.

And I couldn’t agree more.

The reason Labour isn’t going as far as I think it should, is because changing the voting age for general elections can only happen if it’s supported by 75 percent of the MPs in Parliament.

But it should happen.

Especially, when you consider the Supreme Court ruling back in 2022 which said that not letting 16 and 17-year-olds vote in New Zealand breaches the Bill of Rights.

But, for whatever reason, some people think 16 and 17-year-olds couldn’t possibly be trusted with this burden of responsibility that is voting. Very serious business. Not for kids.

They’re probably the same people who think 16 and 17-year-olds who commit crimes should face the same consequences as older criminals.

Because you hear that all the time, don't you? When a 16-year-old does something like ram-raiding a shop or stealing a car, people bang on about them being old enough to know that what they did was wrong and how they made the decision to do whatever they did.

But then, if we talk about voting, suddenly 16-year-olds have got no idea. Not capable of making decisions on their own, too young, no life experience blah blah blah.

The thing is, if we give young people voting rights, it will only be the ones interested enough to vote who will vote.

And, dare I say it, I think some of these younger people would be way more informed than some of us older voters.

Because, potentially, the younger you are, the more likely you are to support candidates who are prepared to take the long view and not just dish out lollies for gullible voters.

In my experience, the 16-year-olds and 17-year-olds of today are so much more advanced in their ability to think more broadly about the world around them, than I ever was at their age.

Which is where I think the problem lies in terms of convincing a lot of us that someone who is 16 has the capacity to choose who to vote for.

Because, naturally, we think back to what we were like when we were their age. And a lot of us probably think we wouldn’t have had a clue back then and assume the teenagers of today are no different.

But they are very different. And that’s why I have no problem with them voting.

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