Tim Barnett
Member of Parliament for Christchurch Central
Chair, Justice and Electoral Select Committee
Member, Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Select Committee
February 2nd 2005

Local body election inquiry – submissions close in 5 weeks

The submission closing date for the major Justice and Electoral Select Committee inquiry into a wide range of matters arising from the 2004 Local Body elections is Friday March 11th 2005. Submissions are welcome from groups and individuals.

The inquiry terms of reference (http://www.clerk.parliament.govt.nz/
Programme/Committees/Submissions/je2004elections.htm ) cover such crucial matters as:

- The integrity and operation of postal voting;
- The operation, promotion and outcome of STV;
- Public agency oversight of local body elections;
- Turnout levels and trends; and
- The management of vote counting.

Tim Barnett, Chair of the Committee, said today:

“Our Committee has important work to do in probing the fundamentals of local body democracy, using the 2004 Elections as a case study. High quality submissions are crucial to the success of our work, and we urge groups and individuals to produce comment by the March 11th deadline. Hearings will probably be held during March and April; that can be by videolink as well as face to face or by phone link”.

Submissions should be sent to:

Helena Strange
Justice and Electoral Committee Secretariat
Parliament House
WELLINGTON

ENDS