On voting
Democracy fundamentally isn't about whether my team wins. It's about having a fair shot for everyone who is affected by the Government to have a say.
Moving house is apparently my superpower. I've never stayed at the same address between national elections before. In 2017, I lived in Island Bay. 2020, Vogeltown. 2023, Te Aro. In 2026, I'll be voting from yet another new home.
I'm a nerd, so I make sure that whenever I move house, I tell the Electoral Commission. I have to diligently wait a whole month before I register my details (updating my details immediately is illegal), and then tell them I've moved.
I've done this enough times over the years that I know the system is easy if you have a RealMe or ID. I'm glad that it is. The whole point of living in a democracy is to make voting as easy as possible.
That's why it's infuriating that yesterday the Coalition Government proposed to take away updating your details when you vote.
Recently, voting in New Zealand has been a marathon rather than a sprint. People can vote up to two weeks before election day. If you had forgotten during your month of changing address time out to update your details, you could do so at the ballot box.
This is done through a "special vote" – one that needs to be verified after the election to make sure the person voting is legit.
This is what the Coalition has decided to take away: people's right to update old details when they turn up to vote. It is an absurd decision because hundreds of thousands of New Zealanders depend on this convenience.
Nearly a fifth of voters enrolled or updated their details when they voted – 560,000 people.
Paul Goldsmith explains it's because enrolling on the day puts "too much strain" on the system. More funding might help that.
Uptight nerds like me diligently change our details and our vote matters exactly the fucking same as someone who didn't remember to update their details but still turns up to vote. I am proud of that fact.
Because democracy fundamentally isn't about whether my team wins. It's about having a fair shot for everyone who is affected by the Government to have a say. Voting isn't a privilege based on how well you make your choice. It's a right – which means it should be as easy as possible for that choice to happen.
I believe that for prisoners. I believe it for people who forget there's an election until the day of. I believe that for people without addresses.
This government has done a lot of shit that makes me wonder. Maybe we need some stronger guardrails around the rules of the game, so Labour or National or ACT or the Greens or the McGillycuddy Serious Party can't fuck with our rights. Something like a formal constitution – establishing the rules of the game that a simple majority can't change.
Cause it's just not on, aye.
