Labour to 'take action' if members involved in voting scam

The Labour Party will take action if any of its members were found to have been involved in a possible Auckland Super City voting scam involving the Papatoetoe ward, party president Andrew Little says.

Police are investigating, and search warrants have been executed at "properties of interest", Detective Inspector Mark Gutry said yesterday.

The irregularities involved people outside of Auckland, but related to Papatoetoe in south Auckland.

The Registrar of Electors last week removed 306 enrolments after discovering people did not live at addresses stated on enrolment forms.

The Labour Party had co-operated with the investigation, and would support any action police decided to take, Mr Little said.

Some candidates were running under a Labour Party banner, and others were loosely associated with the party.

"The integrity of our electoral system is essential to the genuinely democratic basis of our elections and anything that undermines that integrity needs to be dealt with firmly and forcefully," Mr Little said.

"If as a result of the police investigation into the Papatoetoe irregularities we become aware that any Party member is involved we will also take appropriate action internally."

Police are also investigating bribery allegations made against the Shore Voice ticket, which included five North Shore City councillors, the Herald revealed today.

- NZPA