By 3 News online staff
United Future has officially been re-registered as a party and its leader now wants online party memberships to be a legitimate way of measuring party registration.
The Electoral Commission says it will restore Peter Dunne's party to the register of political parties from August 15.
Mr Dunne says he is pleased with the decision and will now ask Speaker of the House David Carter to restore the party's restoration as a recognised Parliamentary party.
"While I am pleased that this situation has resolved, I remain unhappy with the cumbersome process the Electoral Commission felt obliged to follow."
He is now working on a member's bill to allow for online party memberships to be used for party registration purposes. It would also allow for a separate re-registration procedure for established parties which de-register and seek fresh registration within a specific period of time.
"My bill will also require the Electoral Commission to formally audit the membership of all registered parties once every three years, unlike the current situation where the membership of registered parties is never checked by the commission."
Mr Dunne's party was de-registered in June after it failed to meet the 500-member threshold to become a political party.
The Electoral Commission said at the time it needed hard copies of membership forms.
3 News
source: newshub archive
