Five Million Voices

Should enrolment close 13 days before election day and sentenced prisoners be barred from voting, as part of these changes to electoral law?

The bill amends the Electoral Act 1993 with more than 30 changes to election administration ahead of the 2026 general election, including closing enrolment earlier, enabling automatic enrolment updates, and disqualifying sentenced prisoners from voting. It also adjusts rules on advance voting, treating offences, and party registration.

⚡ Taken under urgency

Parliament advanced this bill under urgency (committee of whole house, second reading) — moving it through faster than usual, with less time than normal for public submissions.

MPs’ arguments for and against the bill

Why support it
  • Supporters argued that closing enrolment 13 days before election day and enabling automatic enrolment updates would allow special vote processing to begin sooner and address the lengthening time taken to complete the official vote count.
  • Supporters said banning sentenced prisoners from voting reflects the view that breaking the law should carry consequences, including temporary loss of the right to vote, and would uphold public confidence in the justice and electoral systems.
  • Supporters argued that clarifying rules, such as making it an offence to provide free food or drink near voting places and formalising the advance voting period, would improve clarity and integrity in elections.
Why oppose it
  • Opponents argued the change would prevent people who currently enrol during the early voting period from voting, citing close to 100,000 such enrolments at the last election and a larger group affected by changing districts.
  • Opponents said the Electoral Commission told the select committee the change would not meaningfully speed up the vote count and was not the option it recommended, questioning the stated justification.
  • Opponents argued the measure would disproportionately affect people facing hardship and first-time voters, with officials cited as warning it could lower turnout and risk disengaging new voters.

These are claims MPs made in Parliament’s debate — not verified facts.

Full bill summary & link to official bill page

This bill makes several changes to how elections and voter enrolment work. The headline change is enrolment timing: it closes enrolment before advance voting begins (around 13 days out) rather than allowing people to enrol or update details right up to and on election day, in order to speed up the vote count. It also reinstates a total ban on prisoners voting while serving a sentence, removing the earlier rule that only those serving three years or more were barred. Other measures adjust the anonymous political donation disclosure threshold and create a new offence of "treating" — offering free food, drink or entertainment near voting places. It affects all voters, candidates and parties.

It is a Government bill amending the Electoral Act 1993, driven by concerns that late and same-day enrolments strained the system and delayed final results. Supporters, including Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith and ACT, argue it eases administrative pressure, delivers faster results, and that a full prisoner ban reinforces the consequences of serious offending. Opponents — including the Green Party and legal academics such as Andrew Geddis — argue closing enrolment early could disenfranchise tens of thousands, disproportionately younger, poorer and Māori voters, and the Attorney-General flagged that aspects may be inconsistent with the Bill of Rights' guarantee of the right to vote.

See the Parliament.nz ↗ site for the full bill.

Oppose (No) Support (Yes)

Electoral Amendment Bill · Third Reading, 16 Dec 2025
Parliament voted 68–54 — it passed.