All prisoners are banned from voting regardless of when they are due to be released. Photo / Michael Craig
All prisoners are banned from voting regardless of when they are due to be released. Photo / Michael Craig
Editorial
EDITORIAL
Should RSA triple murderer William Bell help decide the future of New Zealand?
What about Clayton Weatherston who killed his ex-girlfriend by stabbing her 216 times?
New Zealanders are right to bristle at the very idea that these men could play a part picking this country's next government.
That's why people convicted of the most serious crimes haven't been able to vote since Kiwis first went to the ballot box in 1853. But what of someone jailed for petty theft, who would otherwise be eligible for home detention but has nowhere suitable to serve it? Or someone sent to prison after defaulting on fines?
Prisoners in those positions were able to vote in the 1990s and 2000s, so long as they were serving less than three years' jail. The sky didn't collapse, nor did this country go to hell in a handbasket.
Any change will also require the support of NZ First, which has so far been circumspect on how its MPs see the issue.
Despite that, National MP Paul Quinn prepared a private members' bill, drawn at random from the ballot in 2010. The law banned prisoners from voting, regardless of when they were due to be released.
Crime rates did not tumble when the ban came in force, suggesting it hardly acts as a deterrent.
More than 80 per cent of those incarcerated receive sentences of less than three years in prison, with a third less than six months. That means ahead of any election, most prisoners will be released during the next term.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has indicated the Government will consider a change to the prisoner voting ban. Photo / Mark Mitchell
One way of offering a better chance of reintegrating into life on the outside is giving them a stake in the community.
A new report from the Waitangi Tribunal says the ban has disproportionately hurt Māori and breaches Treaty principles.
In 2010, Māori were 2.1 times more likely to have been removed from the electoral roll than non-Māori. In 2018, the number was 11.4 times more likely.
The Tribunal wants the voting ban lifted for all prisoners, regardless of how long and for what crime someone was in jail for.
That's unlikely to get much traction with the Labour-led Coalition, with Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern saying she thinks the pre-2010 law struck the right balance. Any change will also require the support of NZ First, which has so far been circumspect on how its MPs see the issue.
As Herald political editor Audrey Young pointed out at the weekend, NZ First leader Winton Peters has hinted the party might seek to keep the ban but compromise to ensure discharged prisoners were re-enrolled on the electoral roll. And that could well be the way forward for everyone, Māori and non-Māori prisoners alike.
National list MP Paul Quinn drew up a private members' bill to ban all prisoners from voting. Photo / File
There are plenty who would say, if you want the right to vote then don't commit crime. However, should we not be signalling to errant citizens - on the lower end of the offending scale, at least - we truly want them to return to more engaged lives?
