F.03 Prisoner enrolment and voting

Prisoners eligible to vote at general elections (including referendums) are provided the opportunity to enrol.

Information regarding eligibility and enrolling to vote is communicated to prisoners in a way that the prisoners can reasonably be expected to understand.

Prisoner voting - eligibility to enrol

1. Prisoners eligible to enrol to vote must be registered with the Electorate Commission.
2. To be eligible to enrol, prisoners need to:
   1. be sentenced to less than 3 years imprisonment where the offending occurred prior to 25 dec 2025
   2. be 17 years or older, and
   3. be a New Zealand Citizen or permanent resident of New Zealand, and
   4. has lived in New Zealand for more than one year continuously at some time in their life.
3. Staff can refer to [I.06.03 Prisoner voting - disqualification / enrolment] and [I.06.Res.01 Prisoner disqualifcation or eligibility to enrol flowchart] for additional guidance.
4. Prisoners on remand can enrol during election periods if they meet criteria b, c, and d above.

F.03.01 Registering prisoners sentenced to less than 3 years to vote

1. All eligible prisoners are provided the opportunity to enrol on reception.
2. Receiving officer staff manage the initial enrolment process on reception. Refer [I.06.03 Prisoner voting - disqualification / enrolment].
3. The unit PCO will check enrolment procedures have been followed as part of [I.07.03 Review and compliance check on prisoner's file and sentence dates].
4. Where these are actions outstanding the PCO will ensure these are followed up for completion.
5. Details of the enrolment follow up undertaken by unit staff is to be recorded in an Offender File Note in IOMS.

If an eligible prisoner does not want to enrol right away, ensure that they are provided with all relevant enrolment information and copies of the relevant Electoral Commission forms. Follow up with the prisoner regarding their enrolment in a reasonable timeframe and record outcome in an Offender File Note in IOMS.

F.03.02 Enrolment of prisoners on release

1. Staff will identify prisoners who are coming up to release, to facilitate enrolment once released.
2. If the prisoner wants to enrol, their details are collected and sent to the Electoral Commission on release.
3. Staff will ensure that if the prisoner wants to apply for their enrolment details to be secure, they are supported to complete an unpublished role application and supporting information and to send this to the Electoral Commission on release.
4. Both unit staff and releasing staff will manage enrolment as part of the release process.
5. Details of the enrolment opportunity provided, the outcome and any follow up required by probation staff (where applicable) is to be recorded in an Offender File Note in IOMS.
6. Staf can refer to [R.07 Standard Release] for further release information.

F.03.03 Enrolment of prisoners on remand

1. Every prison will ensure eligible prisoners who are on remand are provided with enrolment information and the opportunity to enrol in a timely manner during election periods.
2. The general manager custodial when requested will provide suitable facilities to Local Returning Officers for the purpose of enrolling remand prisoners to vote.
3. The general manager custodial will ensure that the visiting local returning officers are advised of the security and visiting (POM [Visits to prisons]) requirements expected of them, prior to their visit(s).
4. If a remand prisoner is sentenced to imprisonment they will need to be assessed to determine eigibility [I.06.Res.01 Prisoner disqualification or eligibility to enrol flowchart].
   
   

   Staff can assist prisoners with providing supporting information for unpublished roll applications through completion of [I.06.Form.03 Supporting information for unpublished roll application] which can be submitted with the prisoner’s application to the Electoral Commission.

   
   

   For efficiency, completed forms for a prisoner can be scanned and emailed to: pselectoral@elections.org.nz

F.03.04 Information provision for enrolment and voting

1. Electoral Commission information and brochures regarding enrolling to vote will be provided to eligible prisoners by staff at key times as required throughout this procedure.
2. Staff will work with eligible prisoners regarding their right to enrol to vote and enable enrolment.
3. During election periods party political manifestos and policy materials delivered to prisons are to be readily available to prisoners.
4. Prisoners can hear or view party political broadcasts that take place during election periods on the radio and on television.
5. However, political candidates (including members of Parliament) are not permitted to conduct meetings with prisoners or to canvas individual prisoners in relation to election issues.
   
   

   Information regarding eligibility and enrolling to vote must be communicated in a way that the prisoner can reasonably be expected to understand. For example: special attention should be given to young men and women, especially as they may be enrolling to vote for the first time and are likely to require more support.

F.03.05 Prisoner voting

1. The general manager custodial will provide suitable facilities to local returning officers and scrutineers to enable them to carry out their functions.
2. The general manager custodial will ensure that the visiting local returning officers are advised of the security and visiting (POM Visits to prisons) requirements expected of them, prior to their visit(s).
3. The general manager custodial must ensure that all prisoners who are eligible and have enrolled to vote are given the opportunity to vote.
4. Enrolled prisoners undergoing the penalty of postponement of privileges or cell confinement must be given the opportunity to vote.
   
   

   Each prison site will work collaboratively with local returning officers to ensure voting services for prisoners during election times are well planned for across the site and run as efficiently as possible.

F.03.06 Prisoner disqualification from enrolment

1. Receiving officer staff manage the disqualification process for sentenced prisoners as part of the initial reception process. Refer to [I.06.3 Prisoner voting - disqualification / enrolement].
2. The unit PCO will check enrolment or disqualification procedures have been folled as part of [I.07.03 Review and compliance check of prisoner's file and sentencing dates].
3. Where there are actions outstanding the PCO will ensure these are followed up for completion.
4. Staff can refer to [I.06.Res.01 Prisoner disqualification or eligibility to enrol flowchart] for guidance to determine whether a prisoner is disqualified from enrolling with the Electoral Commission.
   
   

   The [Notification of sentence to Electoral Enrolment Centre] from IOMS document tree is completed for disqualified prisoners on reception or as unit follow up. Email completed form to: pselectoral@elections.org.nz It is good practice to enter an IOMS Offender file note confirming completion of this task.