Collins Judith: Electoral Amendment Bill — First ReadingText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeCollins Judith: Electoral Amendment Bill — First Reading[Sitting date: 17 September 2013. Volume:693;Page:13422. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]Hon JUDITH COLLINS (Minister of Justice): I moveThat the Electoral Amendment Bill be now read a first time. I nominate the Justice and Electoral Committee to consider the bill. The New Zealand electoral system has a high level of integrity. One reason for this is that we have regular reviews of electoral laws and practices. These reviews ensure that lessons are learnt from previous elections. They also ensure that electoral law and practices are modernised to reflect evolving technology and changing social expectations. The Justice and Electoral Committee carries out an inquiry after every general election. This inquiry looks into how the election was conducted and the relevant statutory and regulatory framework. Recommendations are then made to the Government on improvements for future elections. The select committee undertook its inquiry between March 2012 and April this year. I thank the select committee for its hard work and deliberation.I would also like to thank all those who made submissions. The select committee received 49 written submissions and heard 16 oral submissions. On 30 April the select committee released its report. The report is thorough and includes recommendations on a range of electoral issues. I am pleased to see that there is a high degree of consensus amongst members. When the Government responded to the select committee report in July we set out our approach to the recommendations. One recommendation has already been addressed through recent changes to the Electoral Regulations. Seven recommendations do not require law changes and the Government will work with the Electoral Commission as appropriate to action these. The remaining recommendations require legislative change and the Government has carefully considered them. The Electoral Amendment Bill is a result of these deliberations.The bill implements 11 of the select committee’s recommendations which can be practically implemented in time for the next election. Recommendations that require more significant policy development have not been included in this bill and will be considered in the future. Having a select committee inquiry into each election allows for a multiparty approach to electoral reform. In this spirit I look forward to working constructively with other political parties on this bill. By implementing 11 of the select committee’s recommendations the Electoral Amendment Bill will update our electoral law and improve the already strong integrity of our electoral system. The bill will improve services to voters candidates and parties. It will improve efficiency through greater use of technology. The bill will simplify and clarify existing provisions of the Electoral Act.I would like to briefly touch on two specific changes that the bill makes. The bill provides for full online enrolment. New and existing electors will be able to enrol or update their details online usingRealMe the Government’s electronic identity verification service. Paper-based methods of enrolment will continue to be available for those who prefer to enrol in this way. By giving people the choice to enrol fully online this bill responds to New Zealanders’ expectations that they will be able to complete most of their transactions with Government electronically.Another important change enabled by this bill is the greater use ofEasyVote cards during the voting process.EasyVote cards are currently used to assist election day workers find voters’ page and line numbers in the electoral roll. This bill will enableEasyVote cards to be used as a record that an ordinary vote has been cast. It will also allow the cards to be used instead of a declaration form for special voters. This new use ofEasyVote cards will simplify and speed up the issuing of ordinary and special votes. It will also make the scrutinising of the rolls that occurs during the election countingprocess more accurate and efficient. In addition to implementing 11 of the select committee’s recommendations the bill also makes some other minor changes. These clarify current provisions and correct minor incorrect references in the Electoral Act. Some of these reflect recent minor changes to the Local Electoral Act 2001.This bill should be referred to the Justice and Electoral Committee. The select committee process is very important and I encourage members of the public to make their views on the bill known to the select committee. I hope that the select committee will be able to report back by the end of this year. It is important that the Electoral Commission has enough time before the 2014 general election to implement changes. The changes made through this bill will have a positive impact on the administration of future elections. The bill will enhance the integrity of our electoral system and will ensure the law remains relevant for next year’s election and beyond. I commend this bill to the House.