20 June 2018

Money to ensure voters can enrol to vote on Election Day will strengthen democracy: Greens

Budget spending to ensure New Zealanders can enrol to vote on Election Day will strengthen democracy in Aotearoa, Green Party Electoral Issues spokesperson Golriz Ghahraman said today.

“We’ve seen overseas, particularly in places likes the United States, where voting is discouraged in an effort to maintain the status quo.

“Here in New Zealand, I’m proud that we instead actively encourage participation in our election and broader democracy.

“The higher the engagement in elections the stronger our democracy.

“At the last election around 19,000 voters attempted to cast their vote on Election Day but were not enrolled to vote.

“This cohort, which is larger than the population of Queenstown, demonstrated a willingness to engage in our democratic process and should have been able to vote on the day.

“An ability to enrol to vote on Election Day lifts a barrier to voting and will only benefit New Zealand. This funding helps fulfil the point in our Confidence and Supply Agreement on strengthening New Zealand’s democracy by increasing public participation.

“I believe our democracy is strong in New Zealand, but we must continue to seek to strengthen it,” Ghahraman said.

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