Hon Paul Goldsmith
Minister of Justice

The Government is overhauling outdated and unsustainable electoral laws including stopping same-day enrolment, Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith says.

“Allowing late enrolments, however well intentioned, has placed too much strain on the system. The final vote count used to take two weeks, last election it took three.

“If we leave things as they are, it could well take even longer in future elections. The 20-day timeframe for a final result will likely already be challenging to achieve at the next election without changes.

“Therefore, the Government has agreed to close enrolment before advance voting begins. People will need to make sure they enrol or update their enrolment details by midnight on the Sunday, before advance voting opens on Monday morning.

“This is a significant, but necessary change. The Electoral Commission will have plenty of time to run an education campaign to ensure people understand the new requirements. For Australia’s federal election earlier this year, the enrolment deadline was 26 days before election day. I have every confidence New Zealand can manage within the 13-day deadline.

“We’ve also agreed to a range of other changes, including creating a new offence to strengthen the rules around treating near voting places. There has been some confusion in the past around what is and isn’t treating. This will make the rules crystal clear.

“The donation threshold for reporting the names of party donors is also being adjusted from $5,000 to $6,000, to account for inflation.”

Key changes include:

• Closing enrolment 13 days before election day to reduce pressure on post-election timeframes.
• Requiring 12 days of advance voting at each election.
• Introducing automatic enrolment updates so the Electoral Commission can update people’s enrolment details using data from other government agencies.
• Enabling greater use of digital communication by removing postal requirements for enrolment.
• Creating a new offence that prohibits the provision of free food, drink or entertainment within 100 metres of a voting place while voting is taking place. It will be punishable by a fine of up to $10,000.
• Reinstating a total ban on prisoner voting.

The Bill makes a wide range of other changes including:

• Enabling special vote processing to begin earlier.
• Increasing the Electoral Commission’s board from three to up to seven members.
• Setting a single deadline for all candidate nominations.
• Changing party registration requirements and timeframes.
• Providing flexibility on the contact details that can be included in promoter statements.

The Government is progressing a separate bill to amend the Constitution Act 1986 to ensure the continuity of executive government in the post-election period.

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