Canterbury Mornings

National's deputy leader has no problem with the new election date.Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern has announced the election will now be held on Saturday 17th October, four weeks after it was due to be held on September 19th.While the Electoral Commission said voting could safely happen under Alert Level Two, Ardern says she also had to factor in participation of voters, fairness and certainty.However, Ardern says Covid is the world's new normal and gave the assurance she won't change the election date again.Parliament will reconvene tomorrow, and its dissolution will now be September 6th. Judith Collins had told the Prime Minister her preference was for November 21st, but her deputy Gerry Brownlee told Chris Lynch he doesn't have a particular view on the date."If the current outbreak largely in Auckland can be contained, if the contact tracing can be efficient to be certain it is removed from be a threat, October 17 will be fine."