Hon Kris Faafoi
Minister of JusticeTargeted electoral changes to support the delivery of, and participation in the 2023 General ElectionWider independent review of electoral laws ahead of the 2026 General Election, with an independent panel to report back
by 2023.
Minister of Justice Kris Faafoi has announced the Government will review New Zealand’s electoral laws to ensure the
rules remain fit for purpose and meet the needs of the next generation of voters.
“While we have a world-class electoral system, times are changing and the Electoral Act needs to continue to move with
them.
“Much has changed since the 1950s but most of our electoral rules haven’t. We want to make election rules clearer and
fairer to build more trust in the system and better support people to exercise their right to vote”, Kris Faafoi said.
“The Electoral Act has had mostly piecemeal tweaks over the years. We now have an opportunity to take a proper look at
how we run our elections.
“We will work with parties across Parliament on broad, non-partisan support for any changes and I have written to other
party leaders expressing that intention.”
The Government is taking two approaches; an Independent Review of New Zealand’s electoral law and targeted changes to
support the delivery of, and participation in the 2023 General Election.
Independent Review of electoral laws
The Independent Review will look at election rules such as:voting age and overseas votingfunding of political partiesthe length of the parliamentary termthe Electoral Commission’s recommendations on MMP:changes to the party vote thresholdone seat electorate ruleratio of electorate seats to list seatsthe overhang rule
The Independent Review will not look at:online votinga return to First Past the Post or alternatives to New Zealand’s MMP systemthe future of Māori electorate seatslocal electoral lawfundamental constitutional change; such as becoming a republic or having an upper House
“This is a chance to make important changes in how elections are run for this generation and the next so that:voters can continue to participate in elections easilythe Electoral Commission can continue to run elections effectivelypolitical parties and others have clear rules to follow and are held to account if those rules are broken.
“The next step with the Independent Review is to put together a review panel. The panel will report back by late 2023
with recommendations for change,” Kris Faafoi said.
“I will be consulting with all parliamentary party leaders and Parliament’s Justice Committee on the Terms of Reference
for the review before they are finalised. I am also writing to these and other groups, such as Māori organisations,
youth organisations, universities and the New Zealand Law Society to seek nominations for potential panel members.
Targeted changes
“Some rules could be improved before the General Election in 2023. For example, we’re looking at improving the
transparency of political donations to make it easier to see where the money is coming from.
“Another focus is looking at when people can move between the Māori Electoral Roll and the General Roll. At the moment
Māori voters won’t be able move rolls before the 2023 General Election.
“This work is a commitment signalled in Labour’s 2020 Manifesto to protect the integrity of New Zealand elections, and
it is also part of the Cooperation Agreement between the New Zealand Labour Party and the Green Party of Aotearoa.
“We are looking to make progress on the work before the end of the year.”