A binding referendum[1] was held in New Zealand on 17 October 2020, on the question of whether to legalise euthanasia via the End of Life Choice Act 2019.[2] The vote was held in conjunction with the 2020 general election, and official results were released on 6 November 2020, with 65.1% in support and 33.7% opposed.[3]
The act came into force on 7 November 2021, twelve months after the final vote count was announced.[4] The End of Life Choice Act legalises voluntary euthanasia for those with a terminal illness and less than six months left to live, if confirmed to be eligible by two doctors.[1][5] New Zealand is the first country to have put euthanasia legalisation to a referendum.[1]
Votes for the End of Life Choice referendum were included on the same ballot as the 2020 cannabis referendum, which sought to legalise recreational cannabis.
Prior to 2021, euthanasia was illegal in New Zealand, with it being illegal to "aid and abet suicide" under section 179 of the Crimes Act 1961.
Two earlier attempts to legalise euthanasia failed to get through the New Zealand Parliament. Hawkes Bay National MP Michael Laws's 1995 Death with Dignity Bill failed with 61 votes against and 29 supporting, and NZ First MP Peter Brown's 2003 Death with Dignity Bill failed in its first reading by 60 votes opposing to 58 supporting.[6]
ACT party MP David Seymour entered the End of Life Choice Bill to the member's bill ballot in October 2015.[7] The bill passed its first reading 76–44 in December 2017 and its second reading 70–50 in June 2019.[8][9] In the committee of the whole House, support from the New Zealand First party became conditional on a referendum to decide whether the law should come into force.[5] An amendment to require a referendum passed 69–51,[10] and the bill passed its third reading with the same numbers on 13 November.[11] The bill received royal assent on 16 November 2019, becoming the End of Life Choice Act 2019.
Referendum structure
A sample ballot for the 2020 referendums.
Following the third reading, the act was written such that it could only come into force following a majority support at a referendum, which would make the legislation active twelve months after the final vote count.[12] If the majority had opposed the legislation in the referendum (or any subsequent referendum, if the first had been voided), it would have been repealed by 16 November 2024, five years after it received royal assent.[2]
The wording of the referendum was also written into the act, and asked voters:[12]
Yes, I support the End of Life Choice Act 2019 coming into force.
No, I do not support the End of Life Choice Act 2019 coming into force.
Public opinion
Support for assisted dying between 2000 and 2019 averaged at around 68%,[5] and prior to the act passing into law in 2019, support for some kind of medically assisted euthanasia for the terminally ill was polled at 74% in April,[13] and 72% in July of 2019.[5]
During the 16-month-long select committee stage of the End of Life Choice Bill, 39,000 public submissions were made, with 90% of submitters opposed to it.[10] Over one thousand doctors signed an open letter in mid-2019 saying that they "want no part in assisted suicide".[14]
Summary of poll results given below. Lines give the mean estimated by a LOESS smoother (smoothing set to span = 0.75).
Through 2020, following the act's assent, public support for it polled at 60–65%:
The rules regarding campaigning for referenda are the same as for general elections. All advertisements must carry a promoter statement, stating the name and physical address of the promoter. It is illegal to campaign on polling day, or within a 10-metre (33 ft) radius of an advance polling booth.
During the regulated period, which ran from 18 August to 16 October 2020, promoters have to declare their campaign expenses and there are limits on how much they may spend on referendum campaigning. The maximum expense limit was $338,000 per referendum for those promoters registered with the Electoral Commission, and $13,600 per referendum for unregistered promoters.[15]
Results
Results of the 2020 euthanasia referendum
Unlike the general election, a preliminary count for the euthanasia referendum was not conducted on election night (17 October 2020). Instead, the referendum votes were counted alongside the mandatory election recount.[16]
All voting papers, counterfoils and electoral rolls are returned to the electorate's returning officer for counting. During the count, the returning officer approves and counts any special votes,[a] and compiles a master electoral roll to ensure no-one has voted more than once.[18] To simplify processing and counting, overseas votes are sent and counted at the Electoral Commission's central processing centre in Wellington, rather than to electorate returning officers.[19]
Preliminary results for the referendums were released by the Electoral Commission on 30 October 2020. These results had 65.2% of people in support of the legislation.[20]
Following the counting of the 480,000 special votes, official results for the general election and referendums were released on 6 November. Based on the final results, 65.1% of people supported the legislation while 33.7% opposed it.[3]
The new legislation took effect on 7 November 2021.[21][22]
Official results of the New Zealand euthanasia referendum, 17 October 2020[3]
As each polling place had only one ballot box for ordinary referendum votes, ordinary votes were broken down by the general electorate where the polling place was located. Special votes were broken down by electorate. Both ordinary and special votes have been combined in the following table.[23]
^Special votes include votes from those who enrolled after the deadline of 13 September, those who voted outside their electorate (this includes all overseas votes), voters in hospital or prison, and those voters enrolled on the unpublished roll.[17]
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