June 08, 2017
Red tape voting reform voted down
Ikaroa Rawhiti MP Meka Whatiri says the Government's rejection of her Electoral Amendment Bill was a lost opportunity to involve more Maori in the electoral system.
The members bill was voted down last night 60-59, with National, ACT and United First voting against it.
Ms Whatiri says a third of the 27,000 people whose votes were disallowed last election were Maori, many of them in Te Taitokerau.
She says the Electoral Commission predicting the rules she was trying to change will invalidate 35,000 votes in the September election.
"I was attempting to remove some of the red tape that inhibits our people from casting their vote, so we do want and labour has said, we do want more particularly Maori to exercise their right to vote and if we can remove some of the impediments, which this bill was doing, why wouldn't you support it," Ms Whaitiri says.
She says the electoral laws need to take into account circumstances such us the fact 40,000 people are homeless and can't supply a residential address when they register.
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