The Independent Electoral Review Panel has published its draft recommendations focused on ensuring our electoral system is fairer, clearer, and more accessible so that as many people as possible can take part. The draft recommendations address important issues such as the voting age, improvements to MMP, the parliamentary term, upholding Te Tiriti o Waitangi / the Treaty of Waitangi, and political financing and campaigning.

“There have been piecemeal changes to electoral law over many years, including some recently, but this review is an opportunity to step back and look at the bigger picture. While many parts of Aotearoa New Zealand’s electoral system work well, we found it can be improved,” said Deborah Hart, chair of the Electoral Review Panel.

Among the interim report’s recommendations are:

· Restricting political donations to registered voters rather than organisations, capped at $30,000 to each party and its candidates per electoral cycle, while reducing the amount that can be donated anonymously

· Lowering the voting age for general elections to 16 and extending voting rights to all prisoners

· Holding a referendum on whether to extend the parliamentary term to four years

· Lowering the party vote threshold from 5 per cent to 3.5 per cent, while abolishing the one-seat threshold

· Requiring the Electoral Act to uphold the Te Tiriti o Waitangi and its principles, including establishing Māori governance over electoral data collected about Māori, and removing restrictions around when Māori can switch electoral rolls

· A re-write of our Electoral Act to make it modern, comprehensive, and accessible.

“In developing our recommendations, we had to balance a range of views and priorities. As we did this, we were guided by our core principles including fairness and encouraging participation,” explains Hart. “We now want to test our thinking and hear what New Zealanders think.”

New Zealanders are being asked to submit their views on the interim report, which covers almost everything to do with how our elections work. The Panel will then deliver its final report to the Minister of Justice at the end of November.

During the first stage of public engagement, which ran from September to November 2022, the Panel sought a broad range of views, receiving more than 1,700 submissions from community groups, organisations and individuals. To inform its thinking, the Panel also held 58 meetings with the public, registered political parties and community groups, as well as 10 hui with Māori communities. The Panel also looked at reports from experts, modelled different options and considered what’s working well in other countries.

A series of online webinars will be held during June, where the draft recommendations will be presented in detail. Bookings for these are now open.

To view the full interim report, book a webinar or make a submission, visit electoralreview.govt.nz.

Submissions close 17 July 2023.

© Scoop Media