“This is nothing short of sneaky and underhand politics and is very disappointing.” 

The Sensible Sentencing Trust is calling on the Government to postpone the report due date for Minister Andrew Little’s Electoral (Registration of Sentenced Prisoners) Amendment Bill. This Bill would allow prisoners with a sentence of three years or less to vote.

SST’s National Spokesperson Jess McVicar said only urgent issues should be dealt with during the COVID19 crisis, but instead while people are preoccupied with that, Minister Little is attempting to push through his idealistic views on prisoners voting!

“This is nothing short of sneaky and underhand politics and is very disappointing.”

Jess commented “Andrew Little has a lot to answer for by attempting to sneak the Bill through. There is absolutely no reason why it cannot be put on hold until our country has recovered from COVID-19. He has ignored requests from some of the Select Committee members to hold off, although the Minister has stated the committee officials would not be able to provide the usual quality of departmental report, nor respond fully to information requests.”

“All justice matters and legislative changes need to be thought out carefully and thoroughly, ensuring the public has the opportunity to have their say through Select Committee submission process. Especially in the case where a Bill such as this would allow sex offenders to vote in the next election. How can such an important issue be overlooked like this?”

Jess went on to say “It’s clear the Minister has little or no care for the public view on this subject, and I’m sure he knows there will be many who would oppose his view on this. 

https://www.national.org.nz/rushing_electoral_law_change_under_lockdown_wrong

https://www.act.org.nz/govt_must_cease_non_essential_legislation_immediately
 

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