Council elections are just over a year away, but the Government has received yet another warning about the outdated and error-filled legislation that governs how they are run
The laws governing local body elections are out of date, contain errors and are stifling attempts at modernisation, the Government has been warned - but any significant change before voters go to the polls next year is off the table, with a comprehensive review "not a priority" for this term of Parliament.
A Department of Internal Affairs briefing to Local Government Minister Nanaia Mahuta late last year, obtained by Newsroom under the Official Information Act, raised concerns about the legislation governing local body elections, which it said was “out of date, contains errors, and stifles improvements to modernise the way elections are delivered”.
“Local elections are steadily falling behind the service standards for general elections, and public expectations. The current model is very localised which has some benefits, but can also create issues for accountability, consistency, and capability to make improvements.”
The management of local elections - including the statutory role of the electoral officer - had increasingly been outsourced to the private sector, with just two Kiwi companies currently providing election management services to local government.
“This near-duopoly has resulted in some pseudo-centralisation, but in the hands of the private sector. This was not an intended or anticipated outcome when the legislation was enacted.”
The devolved responsibilities for local elections created a number of challenges, including inconsistent interpretation and application of electoral law across the country, the degree of influence incumbents had over electoral processes through budgetary decisions for electoral activities, and significant variances in voter support, research and promotion activities due to differing council budgets.
There was also a lack of coordinated leadership and accountability for local elections, DIA officials said, with centralised guidance and resources from LGNZ and Taituarā (Local Government Professionals Aotearoa) funded through voluntary contributions from councils and without any mandate to compel compliance.
“It is very difficult for the sector to make significant nationwide innovations and improvements when no one organisation has the mandate or funding to drive change. This has been shown during recent unsuccessful attempts to develop pilots for online voting and nationwide voting promotional campaigns.”
Any local electoral reform project would be a multi-year project which would likely take two parliamentary terms if there were to be significant structural change, such as a single body taking over responsibility for local elections, the briefing said.
“If you travel overseas, you practically can't vote in a local election, because of the way the rules are. You can't enrol and vote on polling day, there's a whole bunch of stuff which is just old-fashioned and can only be changed by a legislative amendment and it’s really irritating.”
In its inquiry into the 2019 local elections, Parliament’s justice committee called a second time for the Electoral Commission to assume responsibility for local elections, citing the need to improve voter turnout and safeguard democratic processes.
A spokesman for Local Government New Zealand (LGNZ) said the organisation had advocated for change “for umpteen years”, while select committees had consistently recommended streamlining the elections process.
“If you travel overseas, you practically can't vote in a local election, because of the way the rules are. You can't enrol and vote on polling day, there's a whole bunch of stuff which is just old-fashioned and can only be changed by a legislative amendment and it’s really irritating.”
LGNZ had hoped changes could be made in time for the 2022 elections, but accepted the Government had prioritised the Māori ward changes over broader reform.
The spokesman said LGNZ was open to reviewing the overall model but had some reservations about placing full responsibility in the hands of a single agency like the Electoral Commission.
“For a national agency to do both parliamentary elections, to do the various parliamentary by-election, the various referendums that they have to do during three years, as well as the complexity of local elections, is a huge task. So it's not a given that just having one major agency do all those things is best.”
National Party local government spokesman Chris Luxon told Newsroom he supported the Electoral Commission taking over responsibility for local body elections, as that would provide a greater consistency of approach.
“I lived in America for eight years, and you see each city and state doing its own thing with different voting machines and different voting processes - that's the place we don't need to get to.
“Particularly at a time when trust in local government's very low, 40 percent voter turnout is very typical; I think we should put a floor in place and make sure that there is a consistency of process, and that the local government process needs to be as robust and as professional as the central government process.”
Luxon said the multiple local government and elections reviews being undertaken by the Government meant the timeframe for change would likely be too long, when there was a strong case to put the Electoral Commission in charge for next year’s local body elections.
“We have those resources centrally in New Zealand and they only get utilised every three years, and we run our elections really well with high participation rates.
“Compared to other countries, I think we've got an outstanding system and outstanding Electoral Commission, so why wouldn't we gear up for 2022? We're going to be gearing up a year later for general elections so, for me, I'd get cracking with that now.”
Mahuta backs 'harmonisation'
Mahuta told Newsroom she was supportive of greater “harmonisation” between local and central elections. She had also tried to work with councils last term to introduce electronic voting, although there was not widespread interest.
“If we want a participatory democracy, we have to continue to improve local electoral processes, and be able to think about how technology can play its part to get people more involved in elections, but more importantly, engaged in the decision-making processes of local government.”
Mahuta was “not resistant” to the idea of the Electoral Commission running local body elections, but wanted to have further discussions with the local government sector and her ministerial colleagues about the best way forward.
She would work closely with Justice Minister Kris Faafoi on any proposals, given he was responsible for overseeing the work of the Electoral Commission.
The Government has previously indicated its intention to review the framework for parliamentary elections, including electoral finance rules, while Mahuta last month announced an inquiry into the future of local government.
However, Mahuta said her priority was to improve the processes for the establishment of Māori wards, with a bill to make more enduring changes set to go before Parliament this term.
"Due to other priorities in the local government portfolio, such as Three Waters and resource management reform, a comprehensive review of the local electoral system is not a priority for Parliament this term."
*This article has been updated with additional information from Nanaia Mahuta's office confirming local elections reform beyond the Māori wards is not a priority for this term.
