In a statement released yesterday, Mr Peters said the Government’s health response must come before politics.
“Since Monday evening, August 10, we have said that our health response must come first and politics second. That remains our view as the case numbers rise each day,” Mr Peters said.
Mr Peters claimed the “likely source of the outbreak” could be traced back to the border, adding that the current cases are not linked to a unique strain of the virus and “the Americold connection does not exist, as product from that source has not been imported into the country for months”.
“There is now no ability to conduct a free and fair election if the Prime Minister decides to hold the General Election on September 19,” he said
“If September 19 is confirmed political parties will have only six days to campaign before overseas voting begins on September 2 and nine days before advance voting begins.”
Mr Peters said only 44 per cent of votes at the 2017 General Election were cast on Election Day.
NZ First has since voiced “real concerns” around the “state of preparedness of the Electoral Commission and our postal service” to process an “unprecedented deluge of special votes”.
“Any proposed staggering of their vote in the election across several weeks is a weakening of and serious interference in our democracy.
“Voters would be asked by government to exercise their franchise with different levels of information from each other and that is unacceptable.”
Mr Peters said allowing the election to operate in Auckland under Alert Level 2 has also raised concerns around voter turnout, calling the playing field “hopelessly compromised”.
