New Zealand First Welcomes Election Delay
New Zealand First Leader Rt Hon Winston Peters has
welcomed the Prime Minister’s decision to delay the
General Election until October 17.
“New Zealand First is pleased that common sense has prevailed. We were concerned that the Covid outbreak had the effect of limiting campaigns to an unacceptably short period until overseas and advance voting begin if the General Election was held on September 19.
“As I said yesterday, voters are sovereign. Holding an election during a COVID outbreak has the risk of serious interference in our democracy. Voters would be expected to exercise their electoral rights with a dearth of information and that is unacceptable.
“With a delay Parties can now prepare to begin campaigning again, confident that they have the time and resources to engage in a free and fair election.
“New Zealand First will now be looking at our campaign strategy to ensure that we can to get back out on the campaign trail as soon as safely possible.”