Mathers Mojo: Electoral Amendment Bill — First ReadingText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeMathers Mojo: Electoral Amendment Bill — First Reading[Sitting date: 17 September 2013. Volume:693;Page:13439. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]MOJO MATHERS (Green): My colleague earlier spoke about how we are going to be supporting this bill the Electoral Amendment Bill. For us one of the highlights of this bill is the provision for online enrolment. Several speakers have talked before about how there is declining voter engagement and that it is really important to try to turn that round with a range of ploys. However there is a disappointment that perhaps the bill is not totally maximising its opportunities and I would like to talk about a particular group of people who are quite disenfranchised in general elections which is that of disabled people many of whom are not able to cast an independent vote. This is quite core to a democratic society because the right to be able to cast an independent vote is absolutely the core political right. Without that there is no mechanism for holding people to account. New Zealand has signed the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and that includes Article 29 section (a) which is about ensuring that political information is accessible and is provided in an accessible format including information on how to vote and it protects the right to vote by secret ballot for people with disabilities.At the moment in the current Electoral Act section 170 allows disabled people to vote with assistance if they need it. That is great but the very fact of having to disclose their vote to someone else is a breach of the right to a secret vote. What is more I have often heard from colleagues that they overhear when they are in the polling booth people disclosing their vote so they have not just disclosed their vote to the person who is going to mark the voting ballot for them they have disclosed their vote to whoever can hear in the same room. Clearly this is not a desirable outcome. This problem has been recognised overseas and in many other countries they have brought in a whole range of other methods to try to assist disabled people to have an independent vote. These have included transparent overlays voting templates touch screen kiosks telephone voting and internet voting. I would just like to point out here that out of all these options internet voting is the only voting that allows people who are deaf and blind to cast an independent vote because they can access that using Brailletexting technology from their computer.It is very disappointing that at this stage we will not have internet voting in place for the 2014 election. I understand however that phone dictation is being looked at by amending the regulation and we welcome that. But what I would like to note is that at the moment the regulating-making power that is provided for in subsection (6) of section 170 extends only to electors who are wholly or partially blind enabling them to vote by means of devices. That is a clear omission of a whole range of other voters and what I am working on is a Supplementary Order Paper that will extend regulation-making powers to other groups of disabled people and I really would hope that the Minister of Justice would permit this Supplementary Order Paper to go to select committee for consideration. Thank you.