Lowering the voting age, lowering the MMP threshold and 4 year terms
An independent panel of experts is recommending a radical reshaping of the nation’s political landscape, including lowering the voting age to 16, capping political donations and a referendum on extending the parliamentary term to four years.
The series of draft recommendations, suggesting sweeping changes to ensure the system is delivering for voters, would give the more than 125,000 16 and 17-year-olds the right to vote, and grow the electorate by more than 3%.
People aged 16 can already drive, have a firearms licence, and leave school.
In its interim report, the panel also recommended extending voting rights to all prisoners, changing the party vote threshold to 3.5% and abolishing the one electorate seat threshold.
Here are my thoughts on the ideas expressed.
Allowing Prisoners to vote: Yes. You don’t lose your intrinsic right to vote in a. democracy because you are in prison. The punishment of prison is your liberty, not your civil and human rights. The reason National fucked up the prisoner voting rights ban is because they didn’t get the supermajority to do it. Seeing as your rights are curtailed in prison, allowing prisoners the right to vote is essential because they have no other voice inside prison.
Lower MMP threshold to 3.5: Yes. The 5% threshold is too high, it doesn’t work and it limits the ideas and ability for smaller parties got actually engage in the process.
Lower voting age to 16: Yes. Their rights as citizens are being impacted by climate change while older voters don’t give a shit. Politicians having to hear young voters concerns is a good thing.
4 year terms: No. I say 3 years because our Parliament is a unicameral legislature which makes it the most powerful Parliament in the Westminster tradition. Under urgency you can literally read a bill into law within a day! That’s enormous power and to allow that power to go unchecked by the people once every 3 years feels like a recipe for abuse. The reason little gets done in 3 year terms is because the public service block reform and change for their own agendas. A party that actually had a 100 day legislative plan could force change but that takes courage. Lengthening the term will just allow the Wellington Mafia to entrench their interests further. Politicians need to be brave and use the powers this Parliament provides rather than lengthening the dates between accountability!
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I used to be supportive of the vote16 (I’m 67 & started fulltime work at 16) however now that the judiciary with the connivance of psychobabble 101 & defence lawyers have decided that serious offenders committing eg multiple rapes are still kids until age 25 & not responsible for their actions I’ve changed my mind & I’m sure many others have too.
C’mon Bomberino! Which of our “professional” managers in Parliament are going to let this sort of reform through?
Self interested gatekeepers the lot of them…
All this bullshit about brain development in 16 year olds. Please! If the feral anti vax nut jobs prove anything, brain development in adults is no given. Should we stop over seventies voting on the basis that there is a high chance of cognitive decline?
Interesting. Definitely support the lowering of the threshold to 3.5%, prisoners being able to vote along with curtailing the coat tailing from winning an electorate. We should keep the three year term for exactly the reasons you have stated above. I’m not sold on 16yo having the vote. Personally I think it should stay at 18, otherwise I would argue we should have 16 for prison, military, gambling etc.
I see what’s happening, some anonymous panel is attempting to divert the issues away from piss poor governance to the issues of children being able to have their vote on piss poor governance.
Luxon of Nazareth should be pleased someone’s creating a distraction.
No that would require manual work on Luther’s part Wheel and he ain’t no carpenter king. Easier to pay below minimum wage to get someone else to do it.
“People aged 16 can already drive, have a firearms licence, and leave school.”
Which doesn’t mean they understand the implications political policies.
Well make in law that each party must present a 100 week program with timeline, and things to be done on a low budget. While the parties look around for things they can do and be sure about, they can pilot the things that people have been asking for for years. They can settle some of the chronic sores right at the beginning and they will find that the country doesn’t fall apart.
No to 3.5 % – the Greens show that the smaller parties even with clear need for their policies, can’t be relied on to follow through. I think 4%, or one electorate that also will allow one other MP for that party, and the same for each separate electorate they win. We will change the present set up slightly, but still give them a fighting chance.
Have a bi-cameral system by giving the 16-18 year olds their own place in the parliamentary system. Not one for each electorate but perhaps a baker’s dozen, They will all stand as individuals for an area they know something about and get in some practice on their own terms. They may show up the nasties from the ‘adult’ parliament and their considered proposals will be considered by and argued over with the Main Parliament. After some practice and projects being furthered we will be surprised at what we can do.
We won’t have 50/50 of anything but there will be quotas that are largely kept to. and Gender quotas within each quota group eg Pakeha, Maori, Pacifica, Asian. Race will be important as with each goes their own tikanga right! And they have to consider what will be best and acceptable within the polity; some things will not be acceptable to another group and may need altering or not.
Prisoners to vote yes. But remember we are all prisoners here of our own device! The Eagles had it. It’s true, we are all prisoners of our own perceptions. Some are good, some are so-so and some are horrid. We need to have annual lectures or even bi-annual ennial? throughout the motu and you have to register and go to two at least before you can vote at all. I’m sick of the lamebrains that I am always coming across. They are fine people, but they don’t think, they just have wants and opinions.
No wonder we haven’t got a country left. We don’t know what we are doing, we have allowed the smart and confident to come here and tell us how some of us can get rich at the expense of the others. Yeah, that’s clever mate. I know so many great people but they think that politics is for driven people having a hobby like building cars etc. Note – thinking and learning politics and working economics will be as hard as that. John Britten died early, but in a blaze of glory. Let’s all be glorious.
Lowering the voting age to 16 isn’t a big deal either way. It’s actually positive in a sense because it allows young people to engage in an active manner in our political system
Lowering the MMP threshold is a must. Five percent is very high for any minority party to meet, and there’s been less than half a dozen parties that have passed that threshold in many decades.
A four year parliamentary term would give the party in power adequate time to legislate whereas the current three year parliamentary term does not. I think people do not realise that the number of sitting days per year in parliament is quite low. Additionally the demands in many electorates is quite high. This limits the amount of time our MP’s can legislate to a substantial degree.
4 year term yes everything else no .Vote at 16 would mean a permanent left government if you see the school kids strike. 3 .5 cut off would mean a more divided country than we have now as we would finish up having to barter with those on far right eg religious parties like USA or far left who would be more unhinged than the Greens if that is possible .
I get the 3 to 4 years – but help me lord if Labour right now had another year.
The 16 – 17 year olds voting when they cannot buy alcohol, vape purchase legally etc. just seems weird.
As I have become older and reflected on where I was at in youth – what a shambles that would have been.
However, I do feel there are more serious teenagers in this area today and full credit to them. But I also like the fact they should concentrate more on standard education first and achieve there.
If the age was to lower politics should be a subject at school from year 11. Perhaps it is as simple as those who take this as a subject & pass are allowed to vote? With tech this is easily done.
I would have loved this option as a teenager I would like to think.
As for lowing the threshold I think this is irrelevant if seats can be won as a better option. We want whole community trust to be preferred before sparse minority opinions about people who might be an MP.