Democracy in action: the Electoral Commission
Image credit: Policy.nz (Illustration: Ezra Whittaker-Powley)
The Electoral Commission provides the foundation of our democracy.
Our three-yearly election is one of the largest projects in the country, so we need to make sure the Electoral Commission has the resources to deliver – which required a review of its funding baseline.
The funding review looked at the range of statutory and operational functions, the resources required to deliver them, and the capabilities of the organisation to ensure our elections are robust. And it underlined the fact that the Electoral Commission is a high-performing organisation, delivering one of the largest projects in the country – allowing every eligible New Zealander to vote every three years, efficiently and with a very high level of integrity.
Our approach was highly collaborative – working closely with the Electoral Commission team, from the Commissioner to the staff with the responsibility to make sure elections run smoothly. The analysis affirmed the core efficiency and effectiveness of the organisation.
But our analysis also showed the level of national risk being incurred by an over-reliance on volunteers at all levels to run what is a complex and time-constrained project every three years.
So we developed and presented a range of options for funding the Commission in a more sustainable way, in order to improve the robustness of our electoral processes. These were recommended to the supervising agency.
The Electoral Commission's funding has been expanded across successive Budgets, although the requirements on the organisation have changed considerably as legislative changes to our system of elections have been made, particularly by the current government.
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