Debate on Crown Entities, Public Organisations, and State Enterprises — Electoral Commission

As chairman of the Justice and Electoral Committee it was a great pleasure—

💬 Simon O’Connor: Fine chairman.

—thank you, Mr O’Connor—to hear and go through the financial review of the Electoral Commission. Although the Electoral Commission is, of course, accountable to the Minister of Justice, it is not in any way subject to ministerial direction in the discharge of its duties, nor should it be, because in a democracy such as ours the independence of such organisations as the Electoral Commission is fundamental to the very basis of what we take as so important and sometimes, sadly, take for granted in terms of our democracy.

The 2011-12 financial year was a very busy one for the commission. Not only did it have to organise, monitor, and control a general election, but there was of course also the MMP referendum. I note that during the year reviewed the commission produced a deficit of $1.25 million from total revenue of $39 million, which was not a bad effort. But I also note that the deficit was really attributed to the costs of conducting the MMP review for the Minister of Justice, which was in addition to its normal budgeted activities. The deficit was funded from the commission’s reserves.

It was also a year of change for the commission because it took over the statutory responsibility for the enrolment of voters, as well as carrying out its other activities, from 1 July 2012. The enrolment function was previously carried out by New Zealand Post Ltd, through what we used to know as the Electoral Enrolment Centre. The Justice and Electoral Committee heard that the transfer process had gone well and that even though the change for the commission was quite significant, the commission and its offices had handled it in their normal efficient way.

We were also very pleased to learn that the commission was keen to further improve electronic access for enrolment. Currently, voters can update their details online, but cannot actually complete the entire enrolment process online. For that change to occur, as the commission is seeking to achieve, it would mean that a legislative change would be necessary. It is worth stressing that we are talking about electoral enrolment, rather than electronic voting. I agree with the commission’s cautious approach to exploring options in regard to electronic voting.

E-voting raises some very serious concerns and issues around security and the individual voter’s right to complete privacy. It is an absolute fundamental bedrock of our democracy and our democratic process that the ballot should be a secret ballot. Overseas experience, the commission has reported to us, shows that with e-voting the results are patchy, to say the least. Some jurisdictions with e-voting have actually abandoned the process after one or two attempts, but really the real issue is security. It is fair to say that currently no system of electronic voting yet devised can absolutely, with certainty, guarantee secrecy of the ballot.

We take our democratic institutions pretty much for granted in New Zealand, and that can be both a good thing and a bad thing. Most of us New Zealanders just accept that every 3 years there will be a general election, it will be conducted and run efficiently and smoothly, and it will be a result that, no matter what happens, we will as a nation abide by and get on with the job once the election is conducted.

Sadly, too many of our fellow New Zealanders do just take that for granted. So I just want to record, as I speak tonight, my thanks to the commission, to its staff, to its board, and to its team members for the job that they do in ensuring that, as I say, the bedrock of our democratic process is secure, is safe, and is efficient, and we can rely on it as New Zealanders when we go and vote every 3 years. In the heat of a general election I think that is an important aspect that we need to take absolute care to protect, to enhance, and to ensure continues without any undue influence by politicians or outside influences, whether it be from this House or by anybody else.

So I think that we are well served by our Electoral Commission. I think it does a good job on our behalf, and I think we can congratulate it on the work that it has done over the last year or so. I look forward to the changes ahead.

Report noted.

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