This is a part of No Pride in Prisons’ Abolitionist demands. These demands were originally published as a book. To see a pdf of the book, click here. To buy a copy, please email info@noprideinprisons.org.nz

The Electoral Act 1993 provides that any citizen or permanent resident of New Zealand who is incarcerated after the commencement of the Electoral Amendment Act 2010, and who has been sentenced by the courts to imprisonment for their crime(s),[1] is disqualified for registration as an elector, meaning that they are unable to vote in local or general elections.[2]

As found by the High Court in Taylor v Attorney General, this voting ban is inconsistent with the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990 in which every New Zealand citizen over the age of 18 has the right to vote.[3] As stated by Justice Brown, prisoner disenfranchisement is in breach of the right of all citizens to elect a governing body on their behalf, the most fundamental aspect of liberal democracy. This denial of the right to vote is particularly egregious when considered alongside the disproportionate rates of imprisonment experienced by those most marginalised by the current economic and social order. No Pride in Prisons calls for the end of prisoner disenfranchisement and the reinstatement of voting rights to all incarcerated people.

[1] Incarcerated people on remand still have the right to vote in New Zealand.

[2]Electoral Act 1993 s 80(1)(d).

[3] Taylor v Attorney-General [2014]NZHC 1630, at [11].