Dear Mr Grainger,

Thank you for your Official Information Act request dated 3 November 2011
in which you request:

-       any and all statistics the Electoral Commission holds from 1996
until 2010 of   voting and enrolment of prisoners (who were serving a
sentence of less than 3   years at the time of the election and were thus
not disqualified until the passage      of the Electoral (Disqualification
of Sentenced Prisoners) Amendment Bill).

    Can this include, but not be limited to, turnout, enrolment
    estimates, party breakdown, breakdown by candidate and party per
    booth/prison, and the number of electors per electorate in prison
    at the time of the election?

This response has been coordinated with the Electoral Enrolment Centre
(EEC).

Although information on the number of advance votes in General Elections
is available, information about the number of those votes that were made
by prisoners is not recorded.  Voting is by secret ballot, which by its
nature does not provide for a voter’s votes to be recorded.  This means
that there is no information available to determine the number of voters
who are prisoners and their party and candidate votes.  For this reason
your request is declined pursuant to section 18(g) of the Official
Information Act 1982.  You have the right, pursuant to section 28(3) of
the Official Information Act, to complain to an Ombudsman if you are not
satisfied with my response to your request.

The EEC does not have information on the number of prisoners on the
electoral rolls.  People who are in prison for a term of less than 3 years
remain enrolled at the address they lived at before being sentenced.  Some
prisoners have a postal address at the prison where they are being held
but this is a small number.

The EEC does have information about the number of people who have been
removed from the rolls as a result of being imprisoned for a term of 3
years or more.  I have forwarded your query on to the EEC who will provide
this information to you direct.

Yours sincerely

Kristina Temel
Electoral Commission

-----Original Message-----
From: Election Enquiries
Sent: Friday, 4 November 2011 9:25 a.m.
To: Kristina Temel; Natalie McNaught
Subject: FW: Official Information request: Prisoner Voting Statistics

-----Original Message-----
From: Joshua Grainger [mailto:[1][FYI contact email]]
Sent: Thursday, 3 November 2011 7:51 p.m.
To: Election Enquiries
Subject: Official Information request: Prisoner Voting Statistics

    Dear Electoral Commission,

    I would like to request under the Official Information Act any and
    all statistics the Electoral Commission holds from 1996 until 2010
    of voting and enrolment of prisoners (who were serving a sentence
    of less than 3 years at the time of the election and were thus not
    disqualified until the passage of the Electoral (Disqualification
    of Sentenced Prisoners) Amendment Bill).

    Can this include, but not be limited to, turnout, enrolment
    estimates, party breakdown, breakdown by candidate and party per
    booth/prison, and the number of electors per electorate in prison
    at the time of the election?

    (I would also note that I currently have another OIA request
    pending about party membership number statistics that was sent on
    the 30th of October. Feel free to answer these together)

    Yours faithfully,

    Joshua Grainger

    -------------------------------------------------------------------
    Disclaimer: This message and any reply that you make will be
    published on the internet. Our privacy and copyright policies:
    [2]http://fyi.org.nz/help/about#officers

    Please use this email address for all replies to this request:
    [3][OIA #54 email]

    Is [4][email address] the wrong address for Official
    Information requests to Electoral Commission?

    If so please contact us using this form:
    [5]http://fyi.org.nz/help/contact

    If you find FYI useful as an OIA officer, please ask your web
    manager to suggest us on your organisation's OIA page.
    -------------------------------------------------------------------

**************************************************************************
CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE:
This e-mail message and attachments do not necessarily reflect the views
of
the New Zealand Electoral Commission and may contain information that is
confidential and may be subject to legal privilege. If you are not the
intended
recipient, you are hereby notified that you must not use, disseminate,
distribute
or copy this e-mail message or its attachments. If you received this
message in
error, please notify the Electoral Commission by telephone (call collect:
00-64-4-495-0030)
or return the original message to us by e-mail, and destroy any copies.
Thank you.
**************************************************************************

References

Visible links
1. mailto:[FYI contact email]
2. http://fyi.org.nz/help/about#officers
3. mailto:[OIA #54 email]
4. mailto:[email address]
5. http://fyi.org.nz/help/contact

hide quoted sections

Dear Mr Grainger

Further to the email below from Kristina Temel the following is a list of
the number of people, by year, who have been removed from the electoral
roll due to a term of imprisonment of 3 year or more as far back as we
hold any records:

2004 -   298
2005 -   254
2006 -   714
2007 - 1,092
2008 -   774
2009 - 1,000
2010 -   908

Yours sincerely

Rex

--

Rex Arrell
Manager Policy and Administration

DDI 04 801 0702
Fax 04 801 0709
[1][email address]
[2]www.elections.org.nz
Electoral Enrolment Centre
New Zealand Post Limited
Mainzeal Building
181 Vivian Street
PO Box 190
Wellington 6140

This communication is confidential and may be legally privileged. If you
have received it by mistake you must not use, disclose, copy or retain it.
Please immediately notify us by return e-mail and then delete the e-mail
you received in error. Views expressed in this communication may not be
those of the organisation.

 Please consider the environment before printing this email.

-----Original Message-----
From: Kristina Temel [mailto:[3][email address]]
Sent: Monday, 14 November 2011 1:06 p.m.
To: [4][FYI contact email]
Cc: Rex Arrell
Subject: RE: Official Information request: Prisoner Voting Statistics

Dear Mr Grainger,

Thank you for your Official Information Act request dated 3 November 2011
in which you request:

-       any and all statistics the Electoral Commission holds from 1996
until 2010 of   voting and enrolment of prisoners (who were serving a
sentence of less than 3   years at the time of the election and were thus
not disqualified until the passage      of the Electoral (Disqualification
of Sentenced Prisoners) Amendment Bill).

    Can this include, but not be limited to, turnout, enrolment
    estimates, party breakdown, breakdown by candidate and party per
    booth/prison, and the number of electors per electorate in prison
    at the time of the election?

This response has been coordinated with the Electoral Enrolment Centre
(EEC).

Although information on the number of advance votes in General Elections
is available, information about the number of those votes that were made
by prisoners is not recorded.  Voting is by secret ballot, which by its
nature does not provide for a voter’s votes to be recorded.  This means
that there is no information available to determine the number of voters
who are prisoners and their party and candidate votes.  For this reason
your request is declined pursuant to section 18(g) of the Official
Information Act 1982.  You have the right, pursuant to section 28(3) of
the Official Information Act, to complain to an Ombudsman if you are not
satisfied with my response to your request.

The EEC does not have information on the number of prisoners on the
electoral rolls.  People who are in prison for a term of less than 3 years
remain enrolled at the address they lived at before being sentenced.  Some
prisoners have a postal address at the prison where they are being held
but this is a small number.

The EEC does have information about the number of people who have been
removed from the rolls as a result of being imprisoned for a term of 3
years or more.  I have forwarded your query on to the EEC who will provide
this information to you direct.

Yours sincerely

Kristina Temel
Electoral Commission

-----Original Message-----
From: Election Enquiries
Sent: Friday, 4 November 2011 9:25 a.m.
To: Kristina Temel; Natalie McNaught
Subject: FW: Official Information request: Prisoner Voting Statistics

-----Original Message-----
From: Joshua Grainger [mailto:[5][FYI contact email]]
Sent: Thursday, 3 November 2011 7:51 p.m.
To: Election Enquiries
Subject: Official Information request: Prisoner Voting Statistics

    Dear Electoral Commission,

    I would like to request under the Official Information Act any and
    all statistics the Electoral Commission holds from 1996 until 2010
    of voting and enrolment of prisoners (who were serving a sentence
    of less than 3 years at the time of the election and were thus not
    disqualified until the passage of the Electoral (Disqualification
    of Sentenced Prisoners) Amendment Bill).

    Can this include, but not be limited to, turnout, enrolment
    estimates, party breakdown, breakdown by candidate and party per
    booth/prison, and the number of electors per electorate in prison
    at the time of the election?

    (I would also note that I currently have another OIA request
    pending about party membership number statistics that was sent on
    the 30th of October. Feel free to answer these together)

    Yours faithfully,

    Joshua Grainger

    -------------------------------------------------------------------
    Disclaimer: This message and any reply that you make will be
    published on the internet. Our privacy and copyright policies:
    [6]http://fyi.org.nz/help/about#officers

    Please use this email address for all replies to this request:
    [7][OIA #54 email]

    Is [8][email address] the wrong address for Official
    Information requests to Electoral Commission?

    If so please contact us using this form:
    [9]http://fyi.org.nz/help/contact

    If you find FYI useful as an OIA officer, please ask your web
    manager to suggest us on your organisation's OIA page.
    -------------------------------------------------------------------

**************************************************************************
CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE:
This e-mail message and attachments do not necessarily reflect the views
of
the New Zealand Electoral Commission and may contain information that is
confidential and may be subject to legal privilege. If you are not the
intended
recipient, you are hereby notified that you must not use, disseminate,
distribute
or copy this e-mail message or its attachments. If you received this
message in
error, please notify the Electoral Commission by telephone (call collect:
00-64-4-495-0030)
or return the original message to us by e-mail, and destroy any copies.
Thank you.
**************************************************************************

References

Visible links
1. mailto:[email address]
2. http://www.elections.org.nz/
3. mailto:[email address]
4. mailto:[FYI contact email]
5. mailto:[FYI contact email]
6. http://fyi.org.nz/help/about#officers
7. mailto:[OIA #54 email]
8. mailto:[email address]
9. http://fyi.org.nz/help/contact

hide quoted sections