More than a quarter million eligible New Zealanders are not enrolled for the 7 November election, after National scrapped same-day enrolment.

“Christopher Luxon knew his Government’s electoral changes wouldn’t speed up the vote count, but he pushed them through anyway, disenfranchising thousands of New Zealanders,” Labour justice spokesperson Camilla Belich said.

“Without same-day enrolment, as many as 263,000 Kiwis could be unable to vote on the issues that matter to them - the cost of living, jobs, and a health system in crisis.

“Enrolment has fallen from 94.7 percent at the last election to 93.5 percent today. Christopher Luxon called that ‘good and healthy,’ but it means hundreds of thousands of eligible voters could be left out.

"Young people are particularly affected, with three in ten not enrolled.

“Christopher Luxon promised to fix the cost of living, instead he’s made it worse - and now his Government has made it harder for people to have their say.

“Labour will reverse these changes, so voting is easy and accessible to all New Zealanders.

“New Zealand can’t afford another three years of National. On 7 November, give both your votes to Labour for a better future for all of us,” Camilla Belich said.