Is the Government screwing the scrum ahead of next year's election? Are they set to ram through electoral law changes for cynical political advantage?
National's Nick Smith is on the warpath over what Andrew little revealed yesterday. And even though Nick Smith can at times be pedantic, his concerns are warranted.
It's long been political convention that any electoral changes are subject to the special three yearly justice committee inquiry. Little is stomping all over that, to push through his amendment bill with Labour's support partners.
To hell with being bipartisan.
And just what is so urgent, so pressing about the changes he's hand-picked?
He will allow people to enrol on election day and polling booths to be plonked in supermarkets and shopping malls.
All of this smells like a sop to the sluggish and disengaged, targeted at people who struggle to organise their lives, let alone think hard about party policies. The slackers and the sloths.
What's so difficult about enrolling to vote in the lead up to the election?
The democratic ideal is that voters make an informed choice.
If you can't even get off your chuff to ensure you are enrolled, why should be pandered to like a six-year-old on election day?
And this idea of ballot boxes being unleashed on supermarkets and malls is ridiculous.
We have early voting available in the two weeks before election day. Nearly half of us voted early last time. So finding the time or a booth to cast your vote certainly doesn't seem to be a problem.
Setting up ballot boxes in shopping aisles is taking retail politics way too far - and pandering to voters who don't think ahead.
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