NZ Passes Electoral Law Changes to Speed Up Counts and Modernise Voting

“While the core principles guiding our elections endure, how they’re delivered needs to adapt over time to keep up with changing trends, new challenges and new technologies,” Mr Goldsmith said.

The New Zealand Government has passed new electoral legislation aimed at ensuring future elections are conducted in a more timely, efficient, and resilient manner, Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith announced. The reforms respond to growing operational pressures on the electoral system, particularly from late enrolments and the rising number of special votes, while updating processes to reflect modern technologies and voter behaviour.

“While the core principles guiding our elections endure, how they’re delivered needs to adapt over time to keep up with changing trends, new challenges and new technologies,” Mr Goldsmith said. “If we leave things as they are, vote counts will likely take even longer, undermining public confidence in the process.”

Earlier enrolment to reduce delays

A central change in the legislation is the earlier closure of voter enrolment, which will now occur 13 days before election day, ahead of the start of advance voting. Voters will need to enrol or update their details by midnight on the Sunday before advance voting begins on Monday morning.

The government said late enrolments have placed excessive strain on election administration. While final vote counts once took around two weeks, the most recent election required three weeks to complete, largely due to the processing of special votes. The new enrolment deadline is intended to reduce this backlog and speed up final results.

Mr Goldsmith described the change as “significant but necessary,” adding that voters will still have ample time to enrol and that public awareness efforts will support the transition.

Automatic enrolment updates and digital communication

To offset the earlier enrolment deadline and support participation, the legislation introduces automatic enrolment updates, allowing the Electoral Commission to update voters’ details using data held by other government agencies. This is designed to keep enrolment information accurate and reduce the risk of people being incorrectly enrolled or needing to cast special votes.

The reforms also remove certain postal requirements for enrolment, enabling greater use of digital communication. The government says this will make it easier to keep voters contactable, particularly younger voters and those who move frequently.

Advance voting and special vote processing

The legislation mandates 12 days of advance voting at every general election, standardising current practice and ensuring voters have consistent opportunities to cast ballots early.

It also enables earlier processing of special votes, helping to shorten the time required to complete final counts after election day and easing post-election administrative pressure.

New rules around voting places and donations

Among the integrity-focused changes, the law creates a new offence prohibiting the provision of free food, drink, or entertainment within 100 metres of a voting place while voting is taking place. The offence carries a fine of up to $10,000 and is intended to prevent undue influence near polling locations.

The threshold for publicly reporting the names of party donors has been adjusted from $5,000 to $6,000, reflecting inflation since the previous limit was set.

Prisoner voting and governance changes

The legislation also reinstates a prisoner voting ban for individuals sentenced to less than three years’ imprisonment, for offences committed after the law comes into force. This extends the existing ban, which already applies to prisoners serving sentences of more than three years.

In addition, governance and administrative changes include:

• Expanding the Electoral Commission board from three to up to seven members

• Setting a single, consistent deadline for candidate nominations

• Updating party registration requirements and timeframes

• Providing more flexibility in the contact details included in promoter statements

Ensuring continuity of government

Alongside these reforms, the government is progressing a separate bill to amend the Constitution Act 1986, aimed at ensuring the continuity of executive government during the post-election period, particularly if final results are delayed.

“It will take a concerted effort to turn the ship around and address the trends of later enrolments and more special votes,” Mr Goldsmith said. “However, I have every confidence in the Electoral Commission to deliver.”

The government says the package of changes balances efficiency, accessibility, and integrity, ensuring New Zealand’s electoral system remains robust, trusted, and fit for the future.