Proposed changes to our electoral system

The Ministry of Justice is currently reviewing our electoral law. The government-appointed Independent Electoral Review panel is inviting feedback on the future of our electoral system.

They want to hear the public's views on the following:

voting age
overseas voting
the length of the parliamentary term
the funding of political parties
the party vote and one electorate seat threshold
election advertising

See the Electoral Review Consultation document for further details.

How to have your say

The Independent Electoral Review website says you can write your own submission and send it by email or post, or complete their submission form. You are welcome to comment on just one area or the whole review.

You do not need to answer all the questions, nor read the whole consultation document to submit.

The closing date for all submissions is 14 November 2022.

Local body elections Electoral Law

Go back to the November 2022 newsletter

IS POSTAL VOTING UP TO SCRATCH?

Jun 10, 2023

The integrity of our electoral system is critical to upholding our democratic system. However, the 2022 election exposed serious issues about the way we conduct local body elections. Continue reading

Local body elections – backing democratic governance and political equality

Sep 02, 2022

Candidate nominations for this year's local body elections have closed, and campaigning for a place at the council table is well underway. Now is the time to ask the contenders the crucial questions – before casting our votes we need to know their intentions and their stance on issues of concern. Continue reading

Urgent judicial review of discriminatory Rotorua Council Bill

May 06, 2022

“It is premature to declare victory over the Rotorua District Council (Representation Arrangements) Bill”, writes Rotorua Councillor Reynold Macpherson. “It has not been withdrawn, only ‘paused’. If you want to defend democracy against co-governance, please submit an Affidavit in Support of a private citizen’s application for a judicial review”. Continue reading

Locals campaign to restore democracy at Tauranga City Council

Apr 06, 2022

The Government has decided to extend the stay of Tauranga City Council’s commissioners for a further two-and-a-half years. The dissolution of the elected council in February 2021 was always meant to be a temporary emergency measure with full local democracy restored in 2022. However, the Wellington-appointed commissioners asked the Government to delay local elections for at least another year, which the Minister of Local Government, Nanaia Mahuta, obligingly extended until July 2024. Continue reading

Rotorua Lakes Council pushing for Māori co-governance

Apr 06, 2022

The Rotorua Lakes Council no longer believes in one person one vote, each of equal value. Instead, it believes that if you are not Māori, your vote should be worth less. The Council is currently pursuing a law change to enable an undemocratic representation model to be implemented. The model it prefers would consist of three Māori ward seats, three general ward seats, and four at-large seats. However, adopting this arrangement would give the 19,791 citizens on the Māori roll 2.6 times the voting power of the 51,618 citizens on the general roll. Continue reading

Further Councils Considering Establishing Māori Wards

Apr 09, 2021

Councils: Waipa, Hawke’s Bay, Horizons, Horowhenua, Hamilton As mentioned in last month’s newsletter, the new Local Electoral (Māori Wards and Māori Constituencies) Amendment Act 2021 extended the deadline for councils to consider Māori wards for the 2022 triennial local government elections to 21 May 2021. This has brought forward a flurry of proposals and votes. Continue reading

Time to Vote - Local Body Elections 2019

Oct 04, 2019

Voting in local body elections is under way, with the poll closing noon 12 October. With the push for co-governance and partnership arrangements gathering speed, there’s a lot riding on our choices this election. The next three years will make a huge difference to our future. Continue reading

Local Body Elections 2019

Aug 03, 2019

The Democracy Action working group is preparing a set of questions to ask candidates. Please take the opportunity to call radio shows with guest candidates, and attend public meetings, to ask a question or two. Continue reading

Big changes proposed to our electoral system

Jul 07, 2023

Over the past year, the government-appointed Electoral Review Panel has been looking at our general election laws and procedures “to find out what is working well and what could change”. The Panel has formed an initial view and would like to hear what we think before finalising their report for the Minister of Justice. We have until July 17 to have our say. Continue reading

FEEDBACK SOUGHT ON REVIEW OF PARLIAMENTARY ELECTORAL SYSTEM

Jun 10, 2023

The Electoral Review panel has released its interim report with draft recommendations on proposed changes to our parliamentary electoral system. Continue reading

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