Court rules on entrenched provisions of Electoral Act

Radio NZ reports:

Last year, the High Court ruled the ban inconsistent with the Bill of Rights Act, but said it had no power to overturn the legislation because Parliament had passed it lawfully.

In the latest case, Taylor and the other inmates claimed that the ban was not lawful, because changes to who could vote needed to be passed with a 75 percent majority.

However, in a judgement issued today, the High Court ruled that the 75 percent majority only applied to changing the voting age.

It was an interesting case as it dealt with specifying what aspects of the Electoral Act need a super-majority to change them.  The decision of the court is here.

UPDATE: One of the applicants demanding the right to vote was a Rhys Warren, the Rhys Warren just arrested for shooting four police officers.

I look forward to Labour explaining why they think Warren should get to vote, even if found guilty of attempted murder of four police officers.

This also indicates that Warren was a prisoner as recently as August 2014. It will be interesting to learn in time what his previous offences were and if any of them are strike offences. From where I stand, he looks a great candidate for three strikes.

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