Will the election be delayed?

Newshub reports:

The Prime Minister is not ruling out changing the date of the 2020 general election amid the coronavirus COVID-19 global pandemic.

It comes as six Members of Parliament are now in self-isolation and the Speaker of the House has told Newshub it’s a matter of when, not if, the virus spreads into Parliament.

September 19 is marked for the 2020 general election, and Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said on Monday there are no plans at this stage to change the date.

But when Newshub asked if she was ruling out changing it, Ardern responded: “No, I’m saying at this point there is no basis for us to do that… we are some distance from the general election.”

So when could the election be delayed until? It’s a bit complicated.

• S17(1) of the Constitution Act 1986 states that Parliament expires three years after the writ was returned for the last election
• That was 12 Oct 2017 so Parliament expires 12 Oct 2020
• S125 of the Electoral Act say a writ for the election must be issued within 7 days of Parliament expiring so 19 Oct 2020
• S139(4) states the writ must be returned no later than 60 days after it is issued which is Friday 18 December 2020
• You really need at least two weeks for special votes, overseas votes, the final count and recounts so Sat 28 November 2020 is realistic last date. Maybe Sat 5 December but the Electoral Commission would hate you.

Now what if Coronavirus makes even a November election undesirable?

Well the three year term of Parliament is entrenched in the Electoral Act. You need a 75% super majority in Parliament to amend it, so National and Labour would have to agree.