David Seymour says he has been trying to work out constitutionally what will happen if resigned Labour Party candidate Kerrin Leoni wins the Tamaki Makaurau seat.
The ballot papers have already been printed so Leoni’s name will still be on the voting papers when people cast their votes, and it will say she is a Labour candidate.
Seymour said, “the voters on the ballot are going to see her as a Labour candidate so that’s going to guide their vote”.
“The Electoral Commission is going to report the writ back to Parliament with her being elected if she wins, and then she’s going to say that she’s not a member of the Labour Party despite being elected that way. Does that mean that the Labour Party can use the waka-jumping law because she was in Labour or left, or was she elected as an independent in the first place? In which case, they can’t invoke the waka-jumping law against her.”
Seymour says Hipkins has “created a constitutional cluster of stupendous proportions, even for him”.
Asked if the ballot papers should be reprinted, Seymour said there’s very clear rules and timelines for the process and he wouldn’t want to see changes being made to suit one political party.
Labour’s campaign chair Kieran McAnulty says voters are more concerned with the cost-of-living than gangs or the fallout they’ve caused this election.
Speaking to media on Tuesday, McAnulty said Leoni’s decision to run as an independent candidate was “up to her”.
“It doesn’t faze us… I was out and about over the weekend and I can say, it came up once.”
“But I’ve lost count of the number of times that cost-of-living and health has come up.” he said
McAnulty dismissed Seymour calling it a “cluster” and claimed he was only in Parliament after trying to “game MMP”.
It’s not a cluster at all, its quite clear cut.” he said.