The Chief Human Rights Commissioner has taken a jab at the coalition Government, calling its voting reforms a “backward step” for democracy.
Legislation banning prisoner and same-day voter enrolment passed its first reading yesterday with support from National, ACT and New Zealand First.
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith said the changes would overhaul outdated laws and give the country a faster final vote count after election night.
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Opposition parties have been quick to criticise the proposals as undemocratic, while the Attorney-General has found they are inconsistent with people’s rights.
Dr Stephen Rainbow, who was appointed by Goldsmith late last year, has now weighed in with his own criticism of the legislation.
“We have a time in history when democratic institutions are really struggling to maintain their legitimacy and their people’s faith in them and I don’t understand why, at a time like this, we would be making it even more difficult for people to participate in voting, which is a critical part of faith in our democratic institutions.”
Rainbow said New Zealand needed to be doing everything it could to strengthen and enhance its democracy, and that included making it as easy as possible for people to vote.
“I think it’s entirely understandable that the Government would want to have an efficient electoral process but, look, we’ve had a process from 1993 until 2020 where people could enrol until the day before the election.
“The process over time has been made easier for people to enrol and then to vote and to step back from that at this point seems most undesirable and certainly, from a human rights perspective, is not an appropriate course of action.”
Rainbow wouldn’t go as far as calling on the coalition to scrap the legislation, instead saying he would be making a submission outlining his opposition to the bill during the select committee stage.
“I don’t think that this legislative change is helpful to enhancing democracy, to encouraging people, particularly younger people and vulnerable communities, to participate in the democratic process.
“It is definitely a backward step and it would be wise for the Government to seriously consider the steps that it is proposing to implement.”
rnz.co.nz
