Dr Michael Bassett: Wellington - What's wrong with it?

On Monday 28 July there was a strange story in the New Zealand Herald about advice that had been given to the Attorney-General, Judith Collins, by her officers. They had told their minister that the Justice minister’s intended changes to the electoral legislation banning enrolment during the 13 days before an election when early voting gets underway, breaches the Bill of Rights Act. Weird! Most particularly because it tells us that whoever gave that advice to the Minister clearly had little or no knowledge of the history of the rules that cover enrolment and voting in New Zealand.