Labour asks Auditor-General to investigate electoral roll complaints
Photo:
RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
Labour MP Duncan Webb has asked the Auditor-General to investigate https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/political/568729/te-pati-maori-pursuing-two-pronged-legal-action reports of enrolment issues] at the Electoral Commission.
Last week, RNZ spoke to voters who reported they had been moved off the Māori roll, or could not find themselves on any electoral roll.
The Electoral Commission has responded, saying it was likely those who could not find their details online were on the "dormant role".
The dormant role lists voters who have lost touch with the commission and need to update their address before their record shows up on vote.nz.
Chief Electoral Officer Karl Le Quesne
has been adamant the commission is not changing people's enrolment
details without their consent.
But prospective voters, such as former journalist Taryn Utiger, have told RNZ she updated her details as recently as a month ago and still could not find her record.
When RNZ approached the Electoral Commission about Utiger's case, it said it could not comment on an individual's enrolment record.
Webb wrote to the Office of the Auditor-General on Monday afternoon, asking for an investigation to "resolve any doubt on the matter one way or the other".
He said he had received reports of enrolment issues himself that he could not dismiss on the basis of the comment provided by the commission.
"It appears that there are two possibilities as to how this is occurring. First, there have been people inappropriately placed on the dormant roll.
"Second, the information technology system adopted by the Commission has a poor human interface that makes it error prone or unusable," the letter reads.
On the dormant roll, Webb said he wanted the Auditor-General to check the commission was only placing people on this role when it needed to.
"I am concerned that the steps that the Commission is taking under s 89G(2) are not sufficiently rigorous to ensure that people are not being placed on the dormant roll inappropriately.
"While the Commission notes that "we will try to contact you by email or text to ask you to update your details" it is not clear how this is done, or what efforts are used to ensure that the best contact details are used. I also note that in the current era an email or text with a "click on this link" message is unlikely to be responded to," the letter reads.
On the technology system, Webb said it was unreasonable to expect people to locate their electoral record online by using their exact name and address.
"I am concerned that this is a practical hurdle that inappropriately obstructs people seeking to update or confirm their enrolment. In particular, address information is now auto-populated in an accepted format in almost all applications.
"If the Commission is using software which cannot recognise that Avenue and Ave are the same, or that Saint Albans and St Albans are the same suburb, this is a very significant flaw in the system,
"For the Commission to expect electors to remember how they spelt such words, or whether they included a suburb or only their city/town in the address, is an example of an unworkable and outdated human interface of the technology."
Webb said it was clear the enrolment system was not working as expected and a detailed inquiry was required to establish exactly what issues, if any, there were.
"The integrity of the electoral system is fundamental to our democracy. Your inquiry will ensure continued confidence in the system."
The Commission said it was taking people's concerns seriously and anyone with questions about their enrolment could call freephone 0800 36 76 56 or email enquiries@elections.govt.nz
"We continue to monitor our systems and they are running as they should be. In the week to Sunday 3 August we received 38,435 enrolments and updates and 91 percent of these were online."
"It's good that people are checking their enrolment details, and we understand the frustration when you can't find your record. We have heard the feedback and will look at how we can improve the experience for people.
"The search on our website to find your enrolment record is strict to maintain voter privacy and ensure that a person can only see the record we hold for them."
The Office of the Auditor-General confirmed it was considering whether or not it would carry out any inquiry work, including whether the issues raised by Webb fell within its mandate.
"We cannot comment further while this process is under way," a spokesperson said.
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