2.1 Introduction

There are detailed rules in the Electoral Act 1993, the Electoral Finance Act 2007, and the Broadcasting Act 1989 on what you can and cannot do when campaigning. One of the key points you need to know is that campaigning on polling day is a criminal offence.

There are limits on spending by both electorate candidates and registered parties. There are also different rules applying to television and radio advertising as distinct from advertising by other means.

This part of the handbook explains the rules in some detail. Appendix C contains a ‘Quick Guide’ to what you can and cannot do. Appendix D summarises election advertising rules for both candidates and parties.

Part 5 explains your obligations concerning election expenses and donations received.

2.2 Advertising and publicity

The maximum amount of an electorate candidate’s election expenses is $20,000 (including GST). It is a serious offence to spend more than this.

Be aware of the fact that, for the purposes of the Electoral Finance Act 2007, a person who becomes a candidate is deemed to be a candidate from 1 January 2008.

Not all campaign expenses are counted as election expenses. Election expenses are primarily advertising and publicity costs. (See Part 5 for more information on what election expenses are).

If you are representing a registered party, you should stay in touch with your party secretary on advertising. This is because there can be boundary problems between advertising by candidates and advertising by the party, with consequential effects on the expenditure limits and expenditure returns of the candidate and the party.

Candidate’s financial agent must authorise election advertising

The financial agent of an electorate candidate must give written authorisation before any advertisement promoting their candidate’s election can be published. Advertising promoting both a candidate and a party must be authorised by both financial agents.

Election advertisements must state the name and address of the person directing it to be published (‘the promoter’). The full address of the place where the individual usually lives is required. A Post Office box or website address is insufficient. This rule applies to all forms of advertising. To avoid complaints, the following format for promoter statements is recommended: ‘Promoted by/Authorised by financial agent name, financial agent residential address’.

For advertisements promoting your candidacy that are published by or on your behalf, the promoter will be your financial agent. 

Advertising promoting both a candidate and a party must include promoter statements for both financial agents.

If your financial agent changes, advertisements must state the name and address of the new financial agent. If you want to continue using advertising already printed with the previous financial agent’s name and address, you can update the promoter statement by using labels.

If advertising includes a party logo, a party promoter statement and authorisation from the party’s financial agent may be required. This will depend on matters such as the context, size and relative prominence of the logo and whether in the circumstances the presence of the party logo means that the advertising can reasonably be regarded as encouraging or persuading voters to vote for the party.

If advertising contains a website reference, you need to consider whether the website contains material that could be election advertising. Depending on how the website is being used in the advertisement, the content of the website may be considered in determining whether the advertisement is a candidate advertisement, party advertisement, or both, for the purposes of the Act.

There are separate rules applying to radio or television advertising as distinct from other forms of advertising. Electorate candidates may advertise on radio or television to promote their election as an electorate candidate. The cost of an advertisement is an election expense of the candidate. Candidates cannot share television or radio advertising with another candidate or candidates. Candidates may include information about the party they represent and its policies, for the purpose of promoting their own election. But they cannot attack the policies of other parties or candidates.

Candidates’ broadcasts must not encourage voters to give their party vote to the party since this would constitute a party broadcast to which special rules apply.

For example, a radio or television advertisement could say:
“Tick Joe Bloggs, your Y Party candidate for Wellington Central.”

It must not say:
“Tick Joe Bloggs, your Y Party candidate for Wellington Central, and give the Y Party your party vote.”

Candidate advertisements may only be broadcast on television or radio within the period beginning with writ day and ending with the close of the day before polling day.

Expenditure on press advertising and other forms of promotion such as hoardings are election expenses.

As well as promoting you, your financial agent may promote the party vote with the permission of your party’s financial agent, but the costs then have to be apportioned between your election expense return and the party’s expense return. Your financial agent should consult your party’s financial agent in that situation. Similarly, your party’s financial agent may, with the permission of your financial agent, promote your candidacy at the same time as seeking the party vote. Again, your financial agent should consult your party’s financial agent on the amount to be included in your return of expenses.

Broadcasting Standards Authority and Advertising Standards Authority

Election programmes on television and radio (which includes advertisements and opening and closing addresses) come within the jurisdiction of the Broadcasting Standards Authority (BSA). Election programmes must comply with the Election Programme Code which is available on the BSA website (www.bsa.govt.nz). Complaints are made directly to the BSA (online at www.bsa.govt.nz or PO Box 9213, Wellington). For advice on the Code contact the BSA (telephone 0800 366 996 or email info@bsa.govt.nz).

The content of advertising in other media (including websites) comes within the jurisdiction of the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA). Advertising must comply with the ASA Codes of Practice. The codes are available on the ASA website (www.asa.co.nz). Complaints can be made to the Advertising Standards Complaints Board, telephone 04 472 7852 or email asa@asa.co.nz.

The Electoral Finance Act 2007 and the Electoral (Advertisements of a Specified Kind) Regulations 2005 provide for national standards for certain types of electoral signs which may differ from the standards normally applied by a local authority.
The national standards apply to signs up to a maximum of three square metres that are to be displayed in the 2 months
before polling day.

You should consult the relevant local authority, and if necessary Transit New Zealand, before erecting any electoral signs and follow their application procedures.

You must not pay an elector of a district for providing a place to exhibit a sign or hoarding in that district unless it is in the course of the elector’s business. You may however, have to account for the value of display space as an election expense if that space is provided free or at less than its commercial value.

Electorate and list candidates are entitled to hold election meetings in public schoolrooms free of charge (apart from the cost of lighting, cleaning and repairing any damage). Three days notice must be given to the governing body of the school.
Applications must be granted on a “first come first served” basis.

2.3 Polling day activities

Any activities (including advertising) promoting the election of a candidate or party are prohibited on polling day and are a criminal offence. You should be particularly careful to avoid any grounds for complaints against you or your party. Apparent breaches of the law are reviewed by the Chief Electoral Officer and where appropriate referred to the New Zealand Police. The Chief Electoral Office or Returning Officer is happy to discuss any interpretation difficulties you face in respect of this prohibition.

Before polling day you must remove or cover all your election advertising that can be seen from a public place.

A statement, party name, logo, slogan or emblem on party or campaign headquarters may remain on polling day if they do not refer specifically to the election campaign. This exception does not apply to mobile headquarters.

Signs on vehicles, including bumper stickers, must be covered or removed. The distribution of candidate bumper stickers is not recommended. Once distributed, you cannot be sure that they will be removed prior to polling day. You could expose your supporters to the risk of inadvertently committing an offence.

Returning Officers are authorised to remove or cover advertising and charge the costs to the people responsible.

Delivery of election material prohibited
You must not deliver election material through the post or directly to mailboxes on polling day. To avoid breaches, NZ Post will not accept mail for delivery after the Tuesday before polling day. If you hand-deliver election material directly to mailboxes on the Friday before polling day, you can expect complaints by voters who think the material arrived on polling day. Those complaints will be reviewed by the Chief Electoral Officer and where appropriate, referred to the New Zealand Police.

You may wish to offer voters assistance to get to the polling place. You are entitled to contact potential voters on polling day for that purpose. But you are not allowed to say or do anything which encourages them to vote for you or for your party.

Election material does not have to be removed from a website on polling day, so long as the material on the site is only made available to people who voluntarily access it. New material must not be posted on the website on polling day. Advertisements promoting the website must not be published on polling day.

You and your supporters may wear party lapel badges in public on polling day. A party lapel badge is a badge or rosette designed to be worn on the lapel and bearing the party’s name, emblem, slogan or logo. Do not display the lapel badge on vehicles or in other places on polling day. Do not show your name on the lapel badge.

Clothing (such as T-shirts) promoting the party or candidate must not be displayed on polling day.

Streamers, rosettes, ribbons and similar items in party colours may be displayed on polling day but only on people or vehicles and must not contain party names, emblems, slogans, logos or your name.

Candidates may only enter a polling place to vote. After voting, they must leave. If a candidate wishes to be filmed or photographed voting, they must have the approval of the Returning Officer. Approval will be given on condition that:

• the filming or photographing does not disrupt the polling place, and
• no interviews are given in the polling place or in the area around it.

2.4 Advance voting

Advance voting for those who are unable to get to a polling place on polling day will be available from 17 days before polling day up to the day before polling day. The prohibitions applying to electioneering on polling day do not apply during the advance voting period. However, parties and candidates are asked to exercise restraint in the vicinity of advance voting facilities to avoid complaints. (Locations will be published on www.elections.org.nz).

2.5 Contacts with public servants

Public servants serve the government of the day. In order to maintain the confidence of successive governments, they must act and be seen to act apolitically. Therefore, public servants, whether in national, regional or local offices, must not comment on:

• party political matters, or
• the merits of government policy, or
• alternatives to government policy.

If you have questions on these matters you should address them to Ministers.

You, like any other member of the public, may get information from public servants under the Official Information Act.

You can get more detailed information on contact with public servants from the State Services Commission’s website:
www.ssc.govt.nz

2.6 Treating

Treating is the provision of food, drink, and entertainment to persons with the intention of corruptly influencing their vote and is a criminal offence. (Refer to section 217 of the Electoral Act for a full description).

The consequences of being found guilty of treating are:

• you lose your seat if you have been elected,
• you are not eligible to register as an elector for 3 years, and
• you may be sentenced to two years in prison and a $40,000 fine.

The Electoral Act states that the provision of a light supper after an election meeting does not constitute the offence of treating.
The provision of a cup of tea or coffee and a light snack after a campaign meeting, therefore, is not an offence.

You should be cautious about providing refreshments that do not clearly fall within the above exception to avoid complaints being made during the election campaign that you have breached the treating provisions.

2.7 Imitation ballot papers

Do not print or distribute, on polling day or after midnight on the Tuesday before polling day, anything which imitates a ballot paper (or part of a ballot paper) to be used at the election and which contains any direction or matter likely to influence a voter.
Do not print or distribute on polling day any card or paper showing the candidates or parties even if it is not an imitation of a ballot paper.

In the past the issue has arisen as to whether election advertising in newspapers offends the legislative provision against imitation ballot papers. Whilst each case depends on its facts the use in an advertisement of a tick against a party name or candidate name does not, of itself, offend the provision.