Read a summary of our report on the 2015 and 2016 flag referendums, and download the full report at the bottom of this page.
The report notes that we ran the referendums smoothly and within budget. We met all statutory deadlines.
We managed several challenges in running the referendums, such as:
- the short timeframe between the two referendums
- using a different voting system for each referendum
- preparing the referendums before Parliament finished legislation
- late changes to the first voting paper.
In the report, we identify ways to improve future postal referendums. We include recommendations about enrolment, overseas voting, issuing votes, and educating voters.