The legislation sets a requirement of 12 days advance voting at each election. Photo: NZ ELECTORAL COMMISSION
Same-day enrolment for elections is set to be scrapped, with the government announcing legislation to overhaul electoral laws it says have become unsustainable.
Previously, voters have been able to turn up to the booth at any time during the advance voting period and enrol at the same time, as well as on election day, with their vote being counted as a special vote.
Justice minister Paul Goldsmith said late enrolments, while well intentioned, were resource intensive and had placed too much strain on the system.
"The final vote count used to take two weeks, last election it took three," he said.
"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."
The government has agreed to close enrolment before advance voting begins, with people needing to enrol or update their details by midnight on the Sunday before advance voting starts on the Monday morning (in other words, 13 days before election day).
The legislation sets a requirement of 12 days advance voting at each election, and the changes would mean special vote processing could get underway sooner.
Justice minister Paul Goldsmith says late enrolments, while well intentioned, are resource intensive and has placed too much strain on the system. Photo: RNZ / Mark Papalii
The Electoral Amendment Bill contains some other changes, including the introduction of automatic enrolment updates so the Electoral Commission can update a person's address directly following a data match.
The process would not be used for new enrolments, to allow for Māori to choose whether to enrol on the general roll or Māori roll when they first enrol.
Postal requirements for enrolment will be removed, to acknowledge the decline of postal services.
Free food, drink or entertainment within 100m of a voting place will be made an offence, punishable with a fine of $10,000.
"There has been some confusion in the past around what is and isn't treating. This will make the rules crystal clear," Goldsmith said.
The ban on prisoner voting, which the government had already announced, will also be included in the bill.
In addition, the donation threshold for reporting the names of donors will be adjusted from $5,000 to $6,000 to account for inflation.
Goldsmith said the Electoral Commission had been sending conflicting messages, both reminding people to get enrolled before the election, while also saying people can just enrol when they turn up to vote.
"More people have been listening to the second message," he said.
110,000 people enrolled to vote or updated their details on Election Day 2023.
Goldsmith said there was enough time between now and the next election for people to enrol in time for the next general election.
"I absolutely reject any idea that people will not be able to vote, they just need to be enrolled."
New Zealand First leader Winston Peters said it was "balderdash" to suggest fewer people would be able to cast a vote.
"People who say that know nothing about a thing called democracy, and how special the freedom and the rights to vote are. People gave their lives for it. If you can't in the three years get out and enrol 13 days out then there's something wrong with you."
ACT leader David Seymour said rights came with responsibilities, and registering to vote was a legal requirement.
"Frankly, I'm a bit sick of dropkicks that can't get themselves organised to follow the law," he said.
"It's actually made so easy to do, they even have a little orange cartoon running around telling people to do it. And if you're too disorganised to do that over a thousand days between two elections, then maybe you don't care that much."
Changes are also being made to the Constitution Act to prevent some of the problems with the 'caretaker' convention that happened in 2023.
The Act currently requires ministers to remain in office for 28 days while the final vote count is completed. If there are any delays to that, then the 28 days can expire before the new executive is appointed.
In 2023, Labour ministers served as a transitional government while the special votes were counted and while National, ACT, and New Zealand First conducted their coalition negotiations. The 28 days expired while that took place.
The amendment would allow ministers to remain in office until all successful electorate and list MPs have been declared.
Goldsmith said the changes would "ensure the continuity" of executive government in the post-election period.
Labour's justice spokesperson Duncan Webb said it was "outrageous" to refer to people as dropkicks.
"I don't think the 110,000 people who voted and enrolled on the same day are dropkicks. I think they're probably hard-working New Zealanders who let things slip and needed a chance to enrol."
Green Party MP Ricardo Menéndez March said people needed to be supported to engage in the process.
"Any tightening of deadlines for people to be able to participate in our democracy will strip away the ability of people to vote. We know people who are in poverty, who may be working multiple jobs, people who have health conditions, struggle to get to the polls, and so we need to make our democracy more accessible as opposed to more restricted."
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