March 04, 2019
Prison vote ban has racist effect
Former prisoners Donna Awatere Huata and Rawiri Waretini-Karena have joined a Waitangi Tribunal claim into the ban on prisoner voting rights.
The tribunal is giving the claim an urgent hearing after turning it down in 2014 and 2016.
Ms Awatere Huata says more than half the prison population is Māori, which means a huge number of Māori voters effectively disenfranchised from participating in political processes that affect their lives.
The former MP says the voting ban was a racist legislation by National to disenfranchise Māori at a time the political power of the Māori seats was increasing.
Dr Rawiri Waretini-Karena, who since being released from a life sentence has completed a PhD on Māori experiences of historical intergenerational trauma and pushed for prison rehabilitation and reintegration programmes, says being locked up is the punishment by law, but taking away voting is breach of human rights.
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