Green MP for Wellington Central Tamatha Paul in the corridor outside her office on the second floor of Parliament House. Photo / Mark Mitchell
The MP for Hauraki-Waikato said she and Paul had tag-teamed in recent Parliamentary debates “all the way until 9.30pm” for the Electoral Amendment Bill.
“Speaking to the urgency of rangatahi, wāhine, Māori and Pasifika voices being heard and valued in our democracy,” she wrote.
With the statement, Maipi-Clarke posted a video montage of herself and Paul speaking in the House.
The Electoral Amendment Bill passed its third reading on Wednesday.
The legislation ends same-day voter enrolment – enrolment will close 13 days before an election.
It also allows for larger anonymous political donations, bans prisoners from voting and clarifies the ban on giving out food at voting places.
Te Pāti Māori have already said it would repeal the bill if it is in power after the next election. The party said the bill was not about expediting elections, but “manipulating the election result” and “locking out Māori, Pasifika and rangitahi voices”.
Traditionally, late voters have tended to vote left.
The Human Rights Commission has also been critical of the policy, saying closing enrolment early would create a barrier to voting affecting particularly younger people, Māori, Pacific peoples and Asian communities.
Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith said late enrolment placed too much strain on the system.
“The final vote count used to take two weeks, last election it took three. If we leave things as they are, it will likely take even longer.
“This is a significant but necessary change, and New Zealanders have plenty of time to get organised and enrolled.”
Julia Gabel is a Wellington-based political reporter. She joined the Herald in 2020 and has most recently focused on data journalism.