Faafoi KrisLOCAL ELECTORAL MATTERS BILLSecond ReadingHon KRIS FAAFOI (Minister of Broadcasting Communications and Digital Media) on behalf of the Minister of Local Government: I move That the Local Electoral Matters Bill be now read a second time.The Local Electoral Matters Bill modernises two pieces of legislation to provide greater flexibility and to enable local electoral arrangements to adapt to changing circumstances such as developing new voting methods for the future. The bill is one component of a broader effort to improve civic participation in local government. On behalf of the Minister of Local Government I would like to thank the Justice Committee for its constructive consideration of the bill. I would also like to thank the 27 submitters on the bill especially the nine submitters who made oral submissions to the committee. The Government was particularly pleased to see that submitters from the local government sector and those on behalf of the visually impaired were supportive of the bill.The 27 public submissions covered all parts of the bill and provided useful perspectives on the proposals. The Justice Committee has recommended amendments to the bill in response to some of the issues raised in submissions and to help ensure the bill achieves its stated objectives. The Government supports these amendments and a number of amendments have been made to reflect these recommendations which I will speak to briefly. I would also like to thank the National Party for the support expressed separately in the Justice Committee's commentary and for their constructive approach to the bill in the committee. I can assure them that the Government is very aware of the risks in trialling any new voting method particularly in an online environment and especially under the pressure of an imminent local election. However the Government is also aware that some risk will always exist and these need to be managed prudently rather than preventing any form of innovation or progress occurring in this area.For many New Zealanders filling out their ballot papers every three years is the only way to influence decision making in local government. Therefore it is vital that the legislative framework for the local elections supports opportunities to ensure that voting in local elections is as easy and accessible as possible. The Local Electoral Matters Bill makes changes to better achieve this aim. Changes to the cost and regularity of postal services are creating increased challenges to deliver postal voting effectively and affordably to New Zealanders. The Local Electoral Act 2001 was enacted to provide for the only two voting methods known at the time and that was postal voting and polling booth voting. However the legislation still envisaged and made provision for the possibility of other voting methods in the future including electronic or online voting. It is in this context that the changes in this bill are the first step in a wider programme to improve the operation and effectiveness of local elections.The bill has two parts. Part 1 of the bill amends the Local Electoral Act 2001 to make the explicit provision for local authorities to conduct trials of new voting methods. In particular the bill introduces authority for trials of new voting methods to be limited to subsets of electors in a local election. Currently a local authority running an election is required to consult with other bodies that are party to the election before adopting a voting method. The Government supports the amendment made by the Justice Committee to ensure that these consultation requirements also apply to local authority resolutions to trial a new voting method including a trial that would only apply to a specified subset of electors.Significantly the Justice Committee also recommended the creation of new contingency mechanisms to be available in the event of a serious problem with a voting system. During the consideration of the bill officials from the Department of Internal Affairs identified two scenarios that cannot be adequately provided for under the current framework of the Local Electoral Act either directly or under enabling regulations for a new voting method. The two scenarios relate to identification of major problems at different stages of the election: firstly during the voting period; and secondly after polling has closed. Where a significant problem occurs during the voting period there needs to be provision for the electoral officer to make a formal decision that a component of a voting system has been compromised or has failed and that the component and votes already cast using it must be abandoned.The critical aspect that cannot be dealt with under existing provisions is enabling electors to vote again when their votes have been abandoned. The Act is very clear that no person can vote twice. The explicit provision inserted by the Justice Committee circumvents this restriction where the initial votes have been formally abandoned. In the event that a serious failure of the voting system is discovered after the polling has closed the District Court should be able to direct that an election outcome be voided and the election held again. However the Act currently provides that a District Court inquiry can only be initiated by a candidate or 10 electors and only after the full results have been announced. Relying on this provision would require official results to be announced and outgoing members to leave the office and elected members to take office while court action is in progress.Obviously this mechanism is not fit for purpose for developing a new voting method and there should be a provision for the electoral officer to initiate a court inquiry without official results taking effect. The Government supports the committee's recommendation that the electoral officer be given the power to apply to the District Court after the voting period is complete seeking a judgment that the election may be voided and rerun. While the proposed mechanism would apply to all local elections the Government considers it to be particularly relevant to trials of new voting methods.Part 2 of the bill amends the Electoral Act 1993 to allow people analysing voter participation in local elections to use age group information for this analysis. The Justice Committee accepted the suggestion from submitters that this clause be extended to also provide access to Māori descent information. The Government agrees that there is value in providing electoral participation researchers with access to details about Māori descent information in addition to age group information. The extension to the clause may assist in identifying and removing barriers to Māori participation in local body elections. Part 2 of the bill also amends the Electoral Act 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.Clause 12 amends section 113 of the Electoral Act 1993. The clause requires the Electoral Commission to supply an electoral official of a local authority with electors' date of birth information for the purpose of conducting any election by-election or poll. The primary reason for local authorities to require date of birth information is to support voter authentication at the time of voting. Date of birth authentication avoids creating a new barrier to participation or significant extra costs and it is information held both by the elector and the Electoral Commission that is not published on the roll or printed on voting papers. This makes it an efficient means of authenticating electors. This information may also be used for other purposes related to an election by-election or poll using future voting methods. An example of this might be for scrutiny of the roll during the official count.Local government representatives expressed that having flexibility in its options to authenticate voters was important. Flexibility will also allow local authorities to work with online service providers on the best option allow for innovation and potentially to trial more than one approach to authentication. The bill provides for the secure use and destruction of the date of birth information. This date of birth information is defined in regulations as specified material" and as such will be placed in secure containers with the electoral officer endorsing and signing a memorandum describing the contents. The Government supports the committee's amendments also to further clarify the circumstances in which date of birth information can be provided to local authorities and to ensure that date of birth information is not supplied in any other circumstances.Once again can I thank the individuals and the groups that made submissions on the bill and the Justice Committee for its improvements to the bill. The Local Electoral Matters Bill benefits New Zealanders because it will provide an enduring framework for efficient and effective local body elections that can adapt to changing circumstances. The changes in this bill together with a wider work programme to improve the accessibility and effective operation of local elections will support local democracy by ensuring all electors have a reasonable and equal opportunity to vote in local body elections. I commend the bill to the House."