NZ to review electoral law before 2023 polls

New Zealand will review its electoral laws to ensure the rules remain fit for purpose and "meet the needs of the next generation of voters" ahead of the 2023 general election, Minister of Justice Kris Faafoi said in a statement on Tuesday.

"Much has changed since the 1950s but most of our electoral rules haven't. We want to make election rules clearer and fairer to build more trust in the system and better support people to exercise their right to vote," Xinhua news agency quoted the Minister as saying in the statement.

The government is taking two approaches, namely an independent review of New Zealand's electoral law and targeted changes to support the delivery of, and participation in the 2023 general election, Faafoi said.

The independent review will look at election rules such as voting age and overseas voting, funding of political parties, and the length of the parliamentary term, among others.

Some targeted changes include improving the transparency of political donations to make it easier to see where the money is coming from, said the Minister.

In the last general elections held on October 17, 2020, the ruling Labour Party, led by incumbent Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, won a landslide victory against the opposition National Party, led by Judith Collins - IANS