Labour backs down on election suspension law

Chris Bishop and Chris Luxon announced:

National has forced the Government to back down on an electoral power grab buried in a Covid bill.

“The Government proposed to give itself the power to repeatedly delay local body elections through a change hidden quietly in the Covid Response (Management Measures) Legislation Bill,” says National’s Local Government spokesperson Christopher Luxon.

“The bill allowed the Government to adjourn local elections multiple times without constraint – and not just in an election year, but the year after as well.

“As an example, it would have let the Government delay one of next year’s council elections by six weeks at a time, right through to the end of 2023.

“The Government has now buckled under the pressure and will delete that clause from the bill.

They were trying to sneak this law change through under urgency. Good to see the backdown.