Summarised by Centrist
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith has shepherded the Electoral Amendment Bill through Parliament under urgency.
The legislation introduces several changes to how elections are run, with the most contentious being the closure of enrolments 13 days before election day, replacing the long-standing ability to enrol or update details on polling day itself.
The Electoral Commission advised the government that the change could affect around 55,000 people, with a further 72,000 potentially affected because they would no longer be able to update their address within the final two weeks of the campaign.
The commission also rejected the government’s claim that the change was needed to speed up the vote count, claiming late enrolments, treated as special votes, were not the cause of delays in final results.
Goldsmith, speaking in Parliament, said: “We’ve heard a lot of crocodile tears about the electoral changes that this bill introduces and the fact that we’re requiring people to be enrolled 13 days before the election.” He pointed to Australia, where enrolments close 26 days before polling, saying “the world hasn’t come to an end”.
The bill also reinstates a ban on prisoner voting, reversing a previous change that allowed prisoners serving sentences of less than three years to vote.
It raises the anonymous donation threshold from $5,000 to $6,000, meaning larger sums can be given to political parties without public disclosure of the donor’s name.
Another provision makes it illegal to provide free goods, food or entertainment within 100 metres of a polling station, creating a new offence punishable by a fine of up to $10,000.
Labour MP Ginny Andersen described the changes as “shameful”.
Goldsmith, however, said New Zealand’s rules had become too permissive compared with other democracies.
