Mōrena friends. Can you help a sister out?

Folks who follow my writing might remember I got myself caught up in a set of circumstances last year, supporting a friend running for local government.

As the situation spiralled into craziness and harassment, one of my discoveries was that local government electoral officers don't play the part you'd expect. In my situation, the electoral officer discouraged complaints and gave me incorrect information on his own statutory powers - even after I provided him with evidence of really concerning conduct by a candidate.

Other people started to reach out to me. My situation is far from unique - problematic stuff is happening around the motu.

The issue? In part, it's because councils, which are often small, don't have much choice except to contract out running elections. Contracts go to one of two private businesses. Businesses aren't subject to the OIA or Ombudsman, and don't have an incentive to actually deal with complaints.

A bunch of organisations, including Transparency International NZ, have asked lawmakers to consider bringing local government elections under the Electoral Commissioner. I think it's time to kick the issue up a notch, so I've done a petition.

I'd love you to sign! Once I've got enough signatures to be credible, I can start a bit of a comms mission, approaching people and organisations for support.

Love your work, friends!

https://petitions.parliament.nz/2fe0e8ed-1e3e-48d6-951d-08df19b09cf8?lang=en