There are detailed rules in the electoral legislation on what you can and cannot do when campaigning in the election. One of the key points you need to know is that campaigning on polling day is a criminal offence.

This page explains the rules for electorate candidates in some detail. You should also look at the 'Quick Guide' to what you can and cannot do, Election advertising rules - summary, and the requirements to provide a return of election expenses and of donations received.

Expense limit

As an electorate candidate the maximum you can spend on election expenses is $20,000 (including GST) but not all expenses you incur when campaigning are counted as election expenses.   It is an offence to spend more than this under section 213 of the Electoral Act 1993. 

Election expenses are primarily advertising and publicity costs. Election expenses are the costs of advertising or publicity undertaken by a candidate in the three months before polling day that:

• encourages voters to vote for the candidate, or
• discourages voters from voting for another candidate or party.

Election expenses include:

• the reasonable market value of donated materials, and
• the costs of printing and postage (even if paid for by someone else, eg by Parliamentary Services).

A candidate's deposit or the costs of food, travel, hall hire, surveys or opinion polls, volunteer labour, or replacing materials destroyed through no fault of the candidate, are not election expenses.

If you are representing a registered party, you are recommended to stay in touch with your party secretary on advertising and the expense limits. This is because there can be boundary problems between advertising by candidates and advertising by the party with consequential effects on the expense return to be filed by the candidate and on the expense return filed by the party.

(The election expense regime does not apply to people who are list candidates only. Any spending by those candidates promoting the party is an election expense of the party and must be authorised by the party.)

Advertising and publicity

Candidates must authorise election advertising

Electorate candidates or their agents must give written authorisation before any advertisement promoting their election can be published. The advertisement must state the name and address (business or residential) of the person directing it to be published.  A Post Office box or website address is insufficient. This rule applies to all forms of advertising.

Radio or television advertising

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.  Party political broadcasting is governed by a separate regime from candidates.  Parties may only use time and money allocated by the Electoral Commission.

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 three months before polling day.

Press advertising

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

You may promote the party vote with the permission of your party secretary as well as promote yourself, but the costs then have to be apportioned between your election expense return and the party's expense return.  You should consult your party secretary in that situation.  Similarly, the party may promote your candidature at the same time as it seeks the party vote.  Again, you should consult your party secretary on the amount to be included in your return of expenses.

Electoral signs

Legislation passed by Parliament in late 2004 provides for national standards in relation to 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.  Refer to s.221B., s.267A., and s.267B. of the Electoral Act.

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.

Using schoolrooms for election meetings

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.

Polling day activities

Campaigning on polling day is a criminal offence.

Any activities (including advertising) promoting the election of a candidate or party are prohibited on polling day and are a criminal offence. The full list of prohibited activities is set out in section 197 of the Electoral Act 1993 and effectively prohibits anything which can be said to interfere with or influence voters, including processions, speeches or public statements.  Please consult section 197 of the Electoral Act.  

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 it does 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.

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. 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.

Contacting voters

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.

Websites

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.

Party lapel badges

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 promoting the party or candidate

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

Streamers, rosettes, ribbons etc

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.

Presence in polling places

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.

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.)

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
• 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 1982.

You can get more detailed information on contact with public servants from the State Services Commissioner's website.

Treating

Treating is the provision of food and drink 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 a year in prison and a $4,000 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.

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.