'Absolute bulls***': Labour MP blasts coalition over 'evil' voting changes

Labour is putting extra effort into ensuring people are enrolled to vote this election, with one of its MPs accusing the coalition of having an "evil agenda" to disallow its opponents' ballots. <b>By Craig McCulloch of </b><a href="https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/politics/758888/absolute-bulls-labour-mp-blasts-coalition-over-evil-voting-changes" target="_blank"><b>RNZ</b></a><b> </b> Under new changes by the Government, <a href="https://www.1news.co.nz/2026/01/25/key-dates-and-new-voting-rules-as-nzs-election-countdown-begins/">voters will no longer be able to enrol on election day</a> or in the advance voting period, a move Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith said was necessary to speed up the final vote count. Senior Labour MP Damien O'Connor said the coalition was trying to "cut out and eliminate" the votes of poorer, more transient people. "Absolute bulls***," he told reporters on Tuesday. "It's quite an evil agenda from the right, as we're seeing around the world, that's just been brought into the New Zealand democracy, and it is an outrage."