10. Question No. 10—JusticeHon JAMES SHAW (Co-Leader—Green) to the Minister of JusticeQuestion No. 10—Justice10. Hon JAMES SHAW (Co-Leader—Green) to the Minister of Justice: What if any additional funding or support has the Government provided to the Electoral Commission to run the election in light of COVID-19? Hon ANDREW LITTLE (Minister of Justice): In June the Government provided an additional $28.7 million of funding on top of the roughly $139.6 million of funding to run this year's general election. This funding supports the Electoral Commission to deliver the election safely and includes funding for property rental additional staff supplies and postage enhanced hygiene supplies technology changes and more communications. The Government is also discussing with the Electoral Commission what further support they need to deliver a safe accessible and credible election in light of the second wave of COVID-19 in Auckland. As the Prime Minister has said the Government is committed to ensuring we have a well-run election that gives all voters the best chance to receive all the information they need about parties and candidates and delivers certainty for the future and I'm confident that the Electoral Commission will be able to deliver this. Hon James Shaw: What advice has he had about the commission's preparedness for running the 2020 election? Hon ANDREW LITTLE: Since April I've received regular briefings from the Electoral Commission on their planning for the general election in a COVID-19 environment. I'm also aware the commission has kept political parties informed about pending arrangements. The Electoral Commission has planned for a range of scenarios including the possibility of an election period where the country is at alert level 2 and with some areas of the country at alert level 3. The commission's approach has been to minimise congestion in voting places by extending the advance voting period and increasing the number of advance voting places operating on the weekend before the election increasing the number of voting places and using large enclosed voting places to support physical distancing and hygiene measures such as making hand sanitation available. I might also point out I am aware of a suggestion that maybe the Electoral Commission could consider drive-in voting in the way that we do with community-based assessment centres at the moment. Postal voting is available for people who cannot go to a voting place for example because of illness age or disability. Hon James Shaw: What changes if any has the Government made to electoral law in this term to make it easier for people to vote at the 2020 general election? SPEAKER: Order! I think the member might want to rephrase the question. He knows the difference between the Government and the Parliament. Hon James Shaw: Sorry; I beg your pardon. What changes if any has Parliament made to the electoral law this term to make it easier for people to vote at the 2020 general election? Hon ANDREW LITTLE: Parliament has passed a number of measures to make it easier to vote in this year's general election. This includes changes to the Electoral Act to allow New Zealanders to enrol and vote on election day and to allow supermarkets and malls to be used as voting places if the commission chooses to do so. In addition to what Parliament has done the Government has also made a number of temporary changes to electoral regulations that were requested by the Electoral Commission to assist in delivering the election in a COVID-19 environment. These temporary changes make remote voting easier which therefore gives New Zealanders confidence in participating in the election safely. Hon James Shaw: What advice has he received about the Electoral Commission's key messages to voters at this election? Hon ANDREW LITTLE: I have received no specific advice on the Electoral Commission's key messages—that is after all a matter for the Electoral Commission. But I have seen through the media that the Electoral Commission has advised and is advising New Zealanders to enrol early to vote early and to vote close to home—not to be confused with Vote early vote often". I note that there will be more voting places open during voting and larger venues will be used to minimise queues and allow room for physical distancing. Other ways of voting will be available to those who can't go to a voting place. I encourage those wanting to know more to go to elections.nz."