Photo: RNZ / Angus Dreaver
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith has ruled out several recommendations from the Independent Electoral Review set up by the previous government.
The minister on Tuesday released the final report, which makes more than 117 recommendations, after it was delivered to him at the end of November 2023.
Goldsmith ruled out action on some recommendations, including:
- Lowering the voting age to 16
- Allowing all prisoners to vote and stand for Parliament
- Freezing the ratio of electorate to list seats, which would lead to an increase in the number of MPs over time
- Repealing the offence of 'treating' voters with refreshments and entertainment.
A further recommendation for a referendum on the term of Parliament was a matter already being looked at by the incoming government, with agreement to introduce legislation for a four-year term subject to a binding referendum.
The report said elections were inherently political and the reviewers sought to perform the task "independently and with open minds".
Objectives included: Improving fairness, accountability, clarity, representativeness, and effectiveness in the electoral system and how it can uphold te Tiriti o Waitangi / The Treaty of Waitangi.
They received more than 7500 written submissions, carried out research, examined previous reports, case studies and experiences - and had made several changes since the interim report.
Other recommendations included a full redrafting of the Electoral Act to modernise the language and structure, making things like Māori seats and party vote threshold harder to repeal by entrenching them, lowering that threshold to 3.5 percent instead of 5 percent, and permanently extending the length of time New Zealand citizens can still vote without returning to six years (or eight in the case of a four-year-term).
The review was set up by former justice minister Kris Faafoi in May 2022. The reviewers released their initial findings in an interim report in June last year.
In a statement, ACT Party leader David Seymour said the support for a referendum on the Parliamentary term was "a bright spot amid a list of otherwise dopey ideas".
He said ACT's four-year term Bill - which the coalition has promised to introduce to Parliament within 15 months - would extend the time between elections to four years, but only if approved by a referendum and if select committees became chaired by the opposition.
He said that would give future governments more time to deliver on their manifestos while facing more scrutiny of their laws.
"The review's endorsement of the referendum approach reflects a broad consensus, supported by ACT, that the voting public gets the final say on questions of how their votes translate to the allocation of state power. It's the same principle that drives ACT's initiative to restore the right to local referendum on Māori wards at the council level - another commitment won in our coalition agreement."
He said the proposal to lower the voting age to 16 was a victory for the Greens and "Chairman Mao".
"Combine voting at 16 with civics delivered by left-wing teacher unionists and you've got a recipe for cultural revolution, pitting indoctrinated socialist youth against the parents and taxpayers who pay their bills," he said.
"More state funding for political parties, lowering the voting age to 16, giving all prisoners the right to vote, special protection for Māori interests - all of that will have the Greens and the Māori Party rubbing their hands with delight. ACT will block these recommendations.
"Only 13 percent of Kiwis support lowering the voting age. The last thing we need is another 120,000 voters who pay no tax voting for more spending and bigger government. As for the idea that this is about equal rights, give me a break. You'd never see the Greens campaigning for kids to vote if they thought those kids were all voting ACT."
Activists disappointed
Campaign group Make it 16 said it was disappointed the government had ruled out lowering the voting age.
"It's the government's responsibility to balance public and expert opinion," campaign co-director Sage Garrett said.
"We have a lot of public [support] from our petition, which gained over 7400 signatures, and we also have expert opinion from our win in the supreme court and now from this independent review.
"Because we have all this support from the public and experts it's really disappointing that they've ruled it out."
He said the argument that 16- and 17-year-olds were too immature to vote was not backed by evidence.
"Most psychologists agree that 16- and 17-year-olds are perfectly capable of making 'cold decisions', ones that take time to mull things over. I'd also invite people to go out into political spaces... you will see young people there. We're showing that we have this desire to vote."
Being unable to vote was "extremely disempowering", he said.
"We see all of these decisions being made for us, like around public transport and education. [Our opinions] aren't taken into account even though we have the desire and capability to vote."