The New Zealand euthanasia referendum is a binding referendum that is to be held in conjunction with the 19 September 2020 general election on the question of whether the End of Life Choice Act 2019 should come into force. The Act would legalise voluntary euthanasia for those with a terminal illness and less than six months left to live if approved by two doctors. New Zealand is the first country to put euthanasia legalisation to a referendum. If the majority of voters support the legislation, it will come into force 12 months after the final vote count is announced. A referendum on personal cannabis consumption will be held at the same time. The preliminary results of these referendums are expected to be released on 2 October.
Background
Euthanasia is currently illegal in New Zealand, and it is illegal to "aid and abet suicide" under Section 179 of the New Zealand Crimes Act 1961. Two earlier attempts to legalise euthanasia failed to get through the New Zealand Parliament. A 1995 Death with Dignity Bill failed by 61 votes against and 29 supporting, and a 2003 Death with Dignity Bill failed in its first reading by 60 votes opposing to 58 supporting. ACT party MP David Seymour entered the End of Life Choice Bill to the private member's bill ballot in October 2015. The bill passed its first reading 76–44 in December 2017 and its second reading 70–50 in June 2019. In the Committee of the whole House, support from the New Zealand First party became conditional on a referendum on whether the law should come into force. An amendment to require a referendum passed 69–51. The bill passed its third reading 69–51 on 13 November and it received royal assent on 16 November 2019, becoming the End of Life Choice Act 2019.
Referendum
The referendum will ask voters: The two options will be:
"No, I do not support the End of Life Choice Act 2019 coming into force."
If the majority of voters support the legislation, it will come into force 12 months after the final vote count is announced. If the majority oppose the legislation in the referendum, it will not come into force and will be repealed by 16 November 2024, five years after it received the royal assent.
Public opinion
A poll in July 2019 found that 72% of the public supported some kind of assisted dying for the terminally ill. Support over the past 20 years has averaged around 68%. 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. Over one thousand doctors signed an open letter saying that they "want no part in assisted suicide".
Date
Polling organisation
Sample size
For
Against
Undecided
Lead
Date
Polling organisation
Sample size
Lead
9–13 Jul 2020
1,012
64
18
18
46
6-8 Mar 2020
1,000
60
21
19
39
8–12 Feb 2020
1,004
65
25
9
40
27 Nov-2 Dec 2019
750
70
24
6
48
17–26 Nov 2019
1,521
70
30
–
40
20–24 Jul 2019
1,003
72
20
7
52
19–29 Apr 2019
1,341
74
19
7
55
Results
Unlike the general election, a preliminary count for the cannabis and euthanasia referendums won't be conducted on election night. Instead, the referendum votes will be counted alongside the mandatory election recount. All voting papers, counterfoils and electoral rolls are returned to the electorate's returning officer for counting. During the count, the returning officer wil approve and count any special votes, and compile a master electoral roll to ensure no-one has voted more than once. Special votes include votes from those who enrolled after the deadline of 16 August, those who voted outside their electorate, hospital votes, and those voters enrolled on the unpublished roll. To simplify processing and counting, overseas votes will be sent to and counted at the Electoral Commission's central processing centre in Wellington, rather than to electorate returning officers. Preliminary results for the referendums are expected to be released by the Electoral Commission on Friday 2 October 2020. Official results for the general election and referendums are expected to be released on Friday 9 October 2020.
