Prisoner voting ban to be brought back - Paul Goldsmith

Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith.

By RNZ

Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith says Cabinet has agreed to reinstate a total ban on prisoners voting in general elections, dismissing a ruling from the High Court and recommendations from the Independent Electoral Review and Waitangi Tribunal.

Under the previous Labour Government, prisoners serving less than three years were allowed to vote.

The justification given by then-Justice Minister Andrew Little was that prisoners serving sentences that short would be back in the community before the following election and “must have a right to have a say on those running the country that they are about to be released free into”.

Goldsmith said allowing prisoners to vote was “typical of the previous Government’s soft-on-crime approach”.

“We don’t agree with the previous Government’s reinstation [sic] of prisoner voting for prisoners for less than three years — we thought that was typical of their rather soft-on-crime approach, and we’re going to reinstate a total ban on sentenced prisoners voting,” he told Morning Report on Wednesday.

“Fundamentally, you know, if you want to be part of a modern society there are responsibilities as well as rights and, you know, if you breach those responsibilities to the extent that you’re sentenced to prison, then temporarily you’d lose some rights — including that to vote.”

He said restoring the ban would mean consistency regardless of the length of a prisoner’s sentence.

“A total prison voting ban for all sentenced prisoners underlines the importance that New Zealanders afford to the rule of law, and the civic responsibility that goes hand-in-hand with the right to participate in our democracy through voting.”

In 2015, the High Court ruled a blanket ban on prisoner voting was an unjustifiable limitation on the rights protected by the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act.

“It’s perfectly legitimate for people to have an argument about the balance between rights and responsibilities,” Goldsmith said.

“Obviously, New Zealanders have the right to go and live their lives without being the victims of crime, and like I say, with rights come responsibility. And you know, if you breach those responsibilities to the extent that you’re actually sentenced to prison, well, there are consequences for that.”

The Independent Electoral Review, established in 2022, released its final report in 2024.

It agreed with the High Court, saying prisoners should have the right to vote.

And the Waitangi Tribunal in 2019 urged the Government, then a Labour-NZ First coalition, to urgently remove the ban. It was removed in mid-2020.

“I totally disagree with that and the Electoral Commission … they can come up with suggestions, but we don’t necessarily have to agree with them,” Goldsmith said.

The new ban will be included in the Electoral Amendment Bill, due to be introduced later this year. It would not apply to people on remand, nor those sentenced to home detention.

And it would not be retrospective, meaning those already serving sentences of less than three years when the ban comes into force before the 2026 election would be able to vote.

- RNZ