The Justice and Electoral Select Committee has started work on the 2014 General Election inquiry. This inquiry takes place after every election, be it local or general.

Submissions on this inquiry close 31 March 2015.

Terms of Reference

For this inquiry, the committee will "examine the law and administrative procedures for the conduct of Parliamentary elections in light of the 2014 general election".

This means the range of issues that can be examined is quite extensive; which makes it a great opportunity for you to have a say.

While you can comment on any legal and administrative procedures, here are a number of things that may be of specific importance:

• Advanced voting - early voting is playing a crucial role in our elections now more than ever. What are the rules around this that need to be made more explicit and what needs to be relaxed?
• Election advertising - there are two different kinds of advertising rules, one for the election period and one for Election Day. With advanced voting being so popular, which rules, if any, need to be amended to make all election advertising rules uniform? More importantly, do they need to be uniform?
• Accessible voting - last election we had telephone voting for the first time. What would make voting easier for disabled people? Would voting be made easier if political and candidate information was created in accessible formats, such as braille or large print, NZ Sign Language?
• Electronic voting - more and more countries are moving towards electronic versions of voting, as is New Zealand. Would electronic voting make voting more accessible for disabled people? Your feedback on how this can happen or be made better would will encourage the Select Committee to take a close look at this issue.
• MMP Review - The Electoral Commission's recommendations on MMP were not taken on board by the Government. But are there recommendations within it that you think the Select Committee should look into?

Making a submission

Making a submission is easier than ever! You can find a guide to making submissions here.

For the 2014 General Election inquiry, submissions can be made in two ways:

1. Either electronically here.
2. Or, if you wish to submit in writing, send TWO copies of your submission to:

Committee Secretariat
Justice and Electoral
Parliament Buildings
Wellington

Remember to specify if you wish to appear in front of the Select Committee.

Advice, submissions and the final report of the 2011 General Election inquiry can be found here.

And don't forget, submissions on this inquiry close 31 March 2015.

Contact: James Shaw MP