Voters choose governments. Governments don’t choose voters.

How the law changed

1. 24 July 2025

   Paul Goldsmith confirms the Government will introduce the legislation. Opposition parties were not consulted.^{12 15}

2. 29 July 2025

   First reading. Supported by National, ACT and NZ First. The bill is sent to the Justice select committee.^{12 14}

3. 27 November 2025

   The select committee reports back. Labour, the Greens and Te Pāti Māori file differing views.¹²

4. 9 December 2025

   Second reading. The second reading and committee stage were taken under urgency. Amendments to move the deadline to the day before polling day (Greens) and to the 3rd day before polling day (Labour) did not pass.^{12 13 18 19}

5. 16 December 2025

   Third reading. The bill passes with the support of the coalition parties.^{12 13}

6. 20 December 2025

   Most of the Act comes into force.¹¹

7. 25 October 2026

   Enrolment closes, 13 days before election day.¹¹

8. 7 November 2026

   Election day.

What officials said

The Government

Its stated reason is that closing enrolment 13 days before election day reduces pressure on post-election timeframes and helps deliver timelier results. The regulatory impact statement records the Justice Minister's expectation that official results “should be available within 14 days after Election Day, as was the case prior to 2020”.^{10 11 17}

It also says that everyone had the same chance to enrol before the deadline, and that late enrolments had “placed too much strain on the system”.^{1 8}

Regulatory impact statement

The Government's own regulatory impact statement said an earlier deadline could reduce participation, and that Māori, Pacific, Asian and younger voters were the most likely to be affected.⁹

Ministry of Justice

Officials advised that closing enrolment earlier could harm trust and confidence if people could not vote because they missed the deadline.¹⁵

Attorney-General

A report by the Attorney-General, Judith Collins, found the legislation inconsistent with the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act.^{7 12 13}

Electoral Commission

The Commission told the select committee the changes would not make official results available any sooner than 20 days, because it still forecast around 700,000 special votes. The Chief Electoral Officer said it was “not a change that we recommended”, and that without it the Commission would still aim to process enrolments by the fourth day after the roll closed, with more resourcing.^{10 16}

The Commission also said that the last time the roll closed significantly earlier, in the 1990s, there was a “significant increase in the number of disallowed votes”.¹⁰

Senior Crown Counsel

Jason Varuhas said the deadline was “highly likely” to have a “disenfranchising effect”, that it was “wholly uncertain” it would speed up the count, and that there appeared to be other ways to speed it up without shutting anyone out.¹⁰

Pre-election estimate

Before the bill passed, RNZ reported that the enrolment changes could prevent 100,000 or more people from voting. This was an estimate made before the election.¹³

We think a deadline is only fair if it doesn't stop eligible people voting. Officials said this one would. The count was no faster. And because nobody counted, we still don't know how many people were shut out.