Little AndrewLOCAL ELECTORAL MATTERS BILLThird ReadingHon ANDREW LITTLE (Minister of Justice) on behalf of the Minister of Local Government: I move That the Local Electoral Matters Bill be now read a third time.The Local Electoral Matters Bill amends and modernises two pieces of legislation and is one component of a broader effort to improve civic participation in local government. As New Zealanders are using postal services less this creates increasing challenges for local authorities to deliver postal voting effectively and affordably. Innovation is required to adapt to the changing public expectations about how people wish to engage with central and local government.As a brief summary the bill comprises two parts. Part 1 amends the Local Electoral Act 2001 to make explicit provision for local authorities to conduct trials of new voting methods. In particular the bill allows a new voting method to be trialled with a subset of voters within a local election giving local authorities more options to manage risks when they're designing trials. The bill also makes important improvements to the contingency mechanisms for local elections in the event that a serious problem occurs with a voting method. The amendments in the bill enable electors to vote again if a voting method fails or is compromised and the electoral officer makes a formal decision to abandon the method during the voting period. If a serious failure of the voting system is discovered after polling has closed the bill provides for an electoral officer to apply to the District Court seeking a judgment that the election be voided and rerun. I acknowledge the good work of the Justice Committee in making and consulting on these additions to the contingency provisions for local elections. While these changes provide an important backstop when new voting methods are being developed they also provide a more robust contingency regime for local elections generally.In Part 2 the bill amends the Electoral Act 1993. This includes amendments to clarify that people analysing voter participation in local elections are able to access age group and Māori descent information for this analysis. Local authorities have told us they are keen to use this information to inform their understanding of voter turnout and their efforts to improve voter participation. Another amendment to the Electoral Act 1993 is to allow local authorities to be supplied with date of birth information from the database of registered electors where this is explicitly required in order to conduct an election. This change will support local authorities in developing new authentication measures for voting methods while ensuring this information is handled carefully.The bill was introduced into the House on 5 April 2018 and referred to the Justice Committee on 9 May 2018. I thank the members of that committee for their careful consideration of the bill and for constructive amendments they made which have certainly improved the bill. The committee reported back to the House on 7 December last year and the bill had its second reading on 12 March this year. I'm very pleased the bill has been able to move through its remaining stages rapidly so that we can soon put the bill into effect and begin to realise the benefits it will bring.I welcome members' active engagement in debating the bill's provisions during the committee of the whole House stage and members' support for the bill. Some members commented that this bill is not a far-reaching piece of local electoral reform and that is correct. However the bill does make the necessary and important changes to support development of new voting methods so that local authorities can adapt to our changing times. The amendments in the bill are the first step in modernising local elections and providing greater flexibility for local authorities. The changes will also benefit New Zealanders as this lays the groundwork for improvements so that casting a vote will become more accessible for more of the voting population.Some of the second reading speeches also referred to the changes made by the Justice Committee to allow for a fit for purpose contingency mechanism to be in place during a local election. As I mentioned I commend the Justice Committee for making these amendments as they provide better safeguards for our local elections particularly when a new voting method is being trialled. These are valuable additions to the bill as one of the core principles that the Local Electoral Act 2001 is designed to support is public confidence in local electoral processes.To conclude I'd like to acknowledge those individuals and organisations who took the time to make submissions on the bill members of the Justice Committee for their efforts in considering the bill and all members of this House for their constructive engagement on the bill. Although the working group of interested councils has decided not to proceed with the trial of online voting at the 2019 local elections the changes in this bill are an important step forward towards developing a new voting method or methods for local body voters.The passing of this bill will benefit New Zealand because it will enable local authorities to trial new more fit for purpose ways of voting in local elections. There are also changes in the bill which support the integrity of local elections more generally and the quality of research on voter participation. It is an important contribution to the ongoing efforts of this Government to improve civic participation in local government. I commend the Local Electoral Matters Bill to the House.