Christopher Luxon is making it harder to vote – Labour

Christopher Luxon is tilting the playing field by making it harder for thousands of New Zealanders to vote.

“Politicians should be making it easier, not harder, for people to have their say on who represents them – the Electoral Reform Bill that passed last night is a disgrace,” Labour justice spokesperson Duncan Webb said.

“It is a solution in search of a problem and shows how out of touch Christopher Luxon’s Government is. Ministers were warned that their changes to electoral law wouldn’t speed up vote counting – but they went ahead anyway.

“That’s despite more than 200,000 people enrolling during early voting or on election day at the last election. With these changes, many of those voters could be turned away, or have their votes rejected. One voter turned away is one too many.

“More than 80 percent of submitters opposed the Bill, and the Electoral Commission confirmed the changes will not deliver faster or more accurate election results.

“The only conclusion is that Christopher Luxon is deliberately making it harder for people to have their say.

“We need to be making it as easy as possible for people to vote. Labour will keep fighting for a fair and accessible voting system that strengthens, not undermines, our democracy,” Duncan Webb said.