Summarised by Centrist
New Zealand First will campaign on changing electoral law so that only citizens can vote in general and local elections.
Winston Peters announced the policy in Warkworth, saying voting should be for those who have “sworn allegiance to New Zealand”. He argued permanent residence gives people the right to live, work and study here, but citizenship is different because it represents the “formal bond of allegiance, belonging, responsibility, and democratic authority”.
Under current law, some non-citizens can vote after 12 months’ continuous residence if they are lawfully in New Zealand and not required to leave by a specified date.
Peters is trying to make citizenship itself an election issue, asking whether voting should belong to everyone settled here or only to those who have formally joined the country.
Read more over at Stuff and The NZ Herald
