Public Address | Cafe | Legal Beagle: Election Fact Check #3: It shouldn't be this way

Rich of Observationz

Sat, 29 Oct 2011 20:50:34 +1300

I wonder if one could chooses to make his or her home by reason of family or personal relations without actually physically living in a place, like your father.

He does after all have a BORA right to vote, so a court would need to consider how the Electoral Act…

Graeme Edgeler

Sat, 29 Oct 2011 20:23:15 +1300

Does that make him illegal? And even if so, who would care?

Wyatt Creech and Winston Peters, that's who.

Chris Waugh

Sat, 29 Oct 2011 14:22:40 +1300

This strikes me as being good news. My vote, if I manage to either figure out how or perhaps get over my honesty and just use my parents' address (a house I've never seen except on Google Street View), would be keep and tweak MMP, with my pet tweak (obviously) being…

Sacha

Fri, 28 Oct 2011 22:08:06 +1300

"If you do not receive this letter, please return it with your information updated"

a flaw in their otherwise cunning plan

Jeremy Andrew

Fri, 28 Oct 2011 20:18:04 +1300

Have you ever lived in one place for at least a month?If so, then then the electorate in which that address now is, is your electorate (you can have a different postal address).If you've been a complete itinerant for your entire time in New Zealand, there are still rules around…

Jeremy Andrew

Fri, 28 Oct 2011 20:08:44 +1300

You do not need to re-register every year (or even every three). We run a continuous enrolment system, whereby people are enrolled until there is reason to remove them. Before each election, the Electoral Enrolment Centre sends every registered voter a letter, but if the enrolment details are unchanged, nothing…

Rich of Observationz

Tue, 25 Oct 2011 14:37:08 +1300

Incidentally, are the Greens running London-based list candidates this year as they have done previously?

Sacha

Tue, 25 Oct 2011 13:23:04 +1300

So long as we've got MMP, I think that should be the rule.

Chris Waugh

Tue, 25 Oct 2011 12:56:49 +1300

I wonder if we should do something similar – been living overseas more than X years, you lose you electoral vote but keep the party one (just a suggestion – still trying to figure out if it’s a good idea)

So long as we've got MMP, I think that should…

Graeme Edgeler

Tue, 25 Oct 2011 11:33:23 +1300

If it’s not you and you don’t send it back, does that mean you can steal tat vote? if you get to the booth before the real voter that is.

You don't need an easyvote card or any ID to vote, so you can corruptly do this anyway :-)

Also,…

Steve Barnes

Tue, 25 Oct 2011 11:02:53 +1300

The photos are of things with numbers on them,

Bit O/T but...
Has anyone else noticed the Keno thing on TV?
It used to be things with numbers on them, now it's random things with random numbers...
23 telephone poles.
18 rabbits
12 car accidents
13 toothbrushes

WTF?

Back on…

Sacha

Tue, 25 Oct 2011 10:51:03 +1300

That's much less exciting than I'd hoped. :)

Paul Campbell

Tue, 25 Oct 2011 10:30:43 +1300

My wife is a US citizen she was originally enrolled for city/school board/water board/county/state/federal elections, as she's spent more time overseas her local residency seems to have come progressively unstuck, she no longer gets to vote on local state issues, just on federal ones (president, senator etc) – I think…

Graeme Edgeler

Tue, 25 Oct 2011 09:13:08 +1300

corrupt practices list

Oooh, how does one get onto that?

By being convicted of a corrupt practice in relation to an election, or being found to have engaged in a corrupt practice in an election petition. Even if you don't go to prison, you go on the corrupt practices list…

Joe Wylie

Tue, 25 Oct 2011 09:07:14 +1300

The photos are of things with numbers on them, counting down the days until the election . . .
Spooky! While Orange Guy may aspire to a kind of reassuring neutrality, he appears to have far too many personal quirks to rival the real zeitgeist.

Sacha

Tue, 25 Oct 2011 09:05:17 +1300

Lazy muppets...

and subeditors based somewhere else who don't know local cultures

Sacha

Tue, 25 Oct 2011 09:04:03 +1300

corrupt practices list

Oooh, how does one get onto that?

Ian Dalziel

Tue, 25 Oct 2011 08:55:57 +1300

Stuff ups...
I don’t doubt that these were good faith errors, but particularly for something as important as the right to vote, I think we’ve all got an obligation to make sure people aren’t misinformed. I don’t want to be overly negative, but please get stuff like this right, and…

Graeme Edgeler

Tue, 25 Oct 2011 08:55:44 +1300

If you arent sending back the voter registration form then they are automatically un enrolled

I think that’s only if the enrolment letters to other people are sent back.

Steve Curtis

Tue, 25 Oct 2011 08:54:42 +1300

The applying in advance for voting papers ( which are then sent to you by post) seems to be an Australian thing but they also have the standard early voting procedure.
The DomPost and Wikipedia have the correct version, so where did the Listener get its information ?

Steve Curtis

Tue, 25 Oct 2011 08:47:12 +1300

If you arent sending back the voter registration form then they are automatically un enrolled
. I fail to see the logic in getting IRD letters ( to pay up ?) allows some sort of voter fraud.
Ps make a habit of sending back letters , return to sender

Graeme Edgeler

Tue, 25 Oct 2011 08:34:02 +1300

According to Elections New Zealand:

__You cannot enrol if:
• you are a New Zealand citizen who is outside New Zealand and has not been in New Zealand within the last 3 years or
• you are a permanent resident of New Zealand who is outside New Zealand and has…

Graeme Edgeler

Tue, 25 Oct 2011 08:25:28 +1300

Wall photos include the B52’s 1st album. 9th pic depicts sleeping seals & is mysteriously dedicated to Graeme Edgeler.

The photos are of things with numbers on them, counting down the days until the election (I imagine the B52's photo was when there were 52 days to go). The dedication to…

Graeme Edgeler

Tue, 25 Oct 2011 08:23:26 +1300

You can start the process of updating your address via TXT. But the process still involves the post eventually.

Nope. It can also be done by fax. Or using a scanner and email.

Graeme Edgeler

Tue, 25 Oct 2011 08:22:24 +1300

Which would mean that I’m eligible to vote for the first time since 1999 – except that last time I was in NZ I spent a week each in Hamilton and Wellington (based in Kapiti), so how I’d enroll having not lived in any electorate for one month, I don’t…

Stephen Judd

Tue, 25 Oct 2011 07:57:18 +1300

TXT or social networking sites could fill the vacuum.

You can start the process of updating your address via TXT. But the process still involves the post eventually.

Lucy Stewart

Tue, 25 Oct 2011 07:10:09 +1300

Which would mean that I'm eligible to vote for the first time since 1999 – except that last time I was in NZ I spent a week each in Hamilton and Wellington (based in Kapiti), so how I'd enroll having not lived in any electorate for one month, I don't…

Paul Campbell

Tue, 25 Oct 2011 06:40:18 +1300

I didn't vote for the 20 years I was away because I assumed that that "not been in New Zealand within the last 3 years" meant "had resided in NZ for 3 years" – which I think is fair – it's sort of the opposite of "no taxation without representation"…

David Hall

Mon, 24 Oct 2011 23:42:07 +1300

Another important point for the expats is that they can enrol to vote up until the day before the election and can enrol unless they have not visited NZ in the last three years.

That of course applies to people in NZ but when overseas it is easy to just…

Chris Waugh

Mon, 24 Oct 2011 23:27:16 +1300

and have lived here for one or more years.

According to Elections New Zealand:

You cannot enrol if:

• you are a New Zealand citizen who is outside New Zealand and has not been in New Zealand within the last 3 years or
• you are a permanent resident…

Joe Wylie

Mon, 24 Oct 2011 23:23:28 +1300

I loathe that orange twerp.
Not so much a boil on the bum as a kind of ingrown toenail of democracy. Has a Facebook page where he fields questions from a patsyish fanbase & cultivates the semblance of a minimal personality. Wall photos include the B52's 1st album. 9th pic depicts sleeping…

Kumara Republic

Mon, 24 Oct 2011 23:23:15 +1300

I suspect that in part that’s to do with the great mobility of that age group, as almost all the processes in getting enrolled and staying enrolled are implemented by letter and paper forms. I have had some involvement with dealing with the issues around returned mail for EEC correspondence…

Hebe

Mon, 24 Oct 2011 21:53:51 +1300

Bloody Gumby again. I loathe that orange twerp.

Stephen Judd

Mon, 24 Oct 2011 20:47:01 +1300

only 73% in the 18-24 bracket

I suspect that in part that's to do with the great mobility of that age group, as almost all the processes in getting enrolled and staying enrolled are implemented by letter and paper forms. I have had some involvement with dealing with the issues…

Graeme Edgeler

Mon, 24 Oct 2011 19:30:17 +1300

In terms of preventing fraud, at the moment we rely on the idea that one has to re-register each year (?) at home and then vote at a local polling booth, where they tick you off a manual list.

You do not need to re-register every year (or even every…

Rich of Observationz

Mon, 24 Oct 2011 19:05:35 +1300

91%, but only 73% in the 18-24 bracket.

Rich of Observationz

Mon, 24 Oct 2011 19:00:29 +1300

I'm sure one could have a checkbox on tax and driver forms as to whether one wanted to be on the published roll.

In terms of preventing fraud, at the moment we rely on the idea that one has to re-register each year (?) at home and then vote at…

Graeme Edgeler

Mon, 24 Oct 2011 17:16:10 +1300

Then a very large percentage of the country would get registered

A very large percentage of the country is registered :-)

We're recognised as world leaders in electoral enrolments.

Graeme Edgeler

Mon, 24 Oct 2011 17:14:40 +1300

Still, is there any clause in the Electoral Act that safeguards against misleading of voters?

Yes. Winston Peters (I think) got them to add one a few years' back. However, it only applies on election day and during the 48 hours before it.

It happens to be the reason I…

Graeme Edgeler

Mon, 24 Oct 2011 17:09:05 +1300

Well ours is (or rather was) based on that form you fill in when you file your change of address with the Post Office – the PO used to do all the enrollment back in the day before it was semi-privatised

They still do. The Electoral Enrolment Centre is a…

Graeme Edgeler

Mon, 24 Oct 2011 17:07:47 +1300

presumably people on remand (ie not yet convicted of anything) are also allowed to vote?

Yes. The operative word is "sentenced".

Craig Ranapia

Mon, 24 Oct 2011 16:27:45 +1300

I wonder why we don’t have a motor-voter type system, which would be straightforward with current information systems.

Who else is seeing the potential for electoral fraud increasing exponentially? I've been at this address for eight years, and am still getting mail (including correspondence from the IRD) for the previous…

3410

Mon, 24 Oct 2011 16:06:58 +1300

I've been seeing TV adverts all through RWC games, for one.

Good to know. I thought I'd been keeping enough of eye out to see them if they were there.

Emma Hart

Mon, 24 Oct 2011 15:56:54 +1300

My suggestion is to go a stage further and if the records indicate that someone is eligible to vote, then register them automatically.

And put them on the published roll?

Sacha

Mon, 24 Oct 2011 15:52:37 +1300

I've been seeing TV adverts all through RWC games, for one.

3410

Mon, 24 Oct 2011 15:50:21 +1300

Halfway through the election period and this time around there's so far zero television presence from Elections NZ reminding people to enrol.
Why?

Rich of Observationz

Mon, 24 Oct 2011 15:50:15 +1300

The Electoral Commission use postal changes of address and the like to track peoples changes of status and invite them to register. My suggestion is to go a stage further and if the records indicate that someone is eligible to vote, then register them automatically.

Paul Campbell

Mon, 24 Oct 2011 15:42:17 +1300

Somewhere there's a list, maybe driven from school records…

Rich of Observationz

Mon, 24 Oct 2011 15:16:22 +1300

I wonder why we don't have a motor-voter type system, which would be straightforward with current information systems.

Driving license applications and renewals could be cross checked against immigration / citizenship databases (which they are already to some extent, in that a passport/birth/citizenship certificate is required for initial ID). The…

Steve Barnes

Mon, 24 Oct 2011 13:02:40 +1300

So don’t forget to enrol. And don’t forget to vote!
Yes, Vote early, Vote Labour, Vote often.
;-)

Kumara Republic

Mon, 24 Oct 2011 12:44:38 +1300

I don't want to be overly negative, but please get stuff like this right, and please check if you're not sure: there was a lot of good in the article, and I don't want it undone.
I guess it's not as bad as the hanging chads fiasco that was the…

Paul Campbell

Mon, 24 Oct 2011 12:40:14 +1300

(oh and are those on weekend furlough the week before allowed to cast absentee ballots?)

Paul Campbell

Mon, 24 Oct 2011 12:37:25 +1300

Excellent thank you – I'm giggling over the thought of people breaking out of jail in order to vote .....

presumably people on remand (ie not yet convicted of anything) are also allowed to vote?

Sacha

Mon, 24 Oct 2011 12:09:40 +1300

it's kinda funny that no-one checked
Don't be silly. Paying fact-checkers might reduce this quarter's profit.

You should invoice the publisher for your efforts here.

Craig Ranapia

Mon, 24 Oct 2011 12:07:29 +1300

I don’t want to be overly negative, but please get stuff like this right, and please check if you’re not sure: there was a lot of good in the article, and I don’t want it undone.

No, Graeme please be extremely negative because there's no excuse for getting something so…

Graeme Edgeler

Mon, 24 Oct 2011 12:00:46 +1300

I do that almost every time. Comments now open.

Public Address

Mon, 24 Oct 2011 12:00:46 +1300

Discussion from blog post.