Wallace Awards for academic work

Judges of the Wallace Awards for academic work on electoral matters recognised the work of Raymond Miller and Richard Shaw.

The judges expressed some concern and frustration at the relative paucity of primary research into New Zealand's electoral system over the last 18 months.

The Wallace Awards recognise research into electoral matters, and cover an eighteen month period. 

Entries for the next round of awards are open now. They close on 16 November 2007. 

Electoral compendium 2005

Updates of information published in previous print editions of The New Zealand Electoral Compendium are now made available online.

Pocket compendia will be published by the Electoral Commission in July 2006. There will be one pocket version summarising key electoral information and one on the Election '05 results data.  Copies will be distributed widely in late July.  

2006 Maori Electoral Option – Kanohi ki te kanohi activity

A key component of the 2006 Maori Electoral Option has reached an important milestone.

The kanohi ki te kanohi or face-to-face Maori Electoral Option teams have presented to over 110,000 people since March as part of the work to raise awareness of the Option and help Maori make an informed decision.

Small communities in Waikato, the Central North Island, East Coast and Taranaki targeted in early July

One of our teams is on the road in the first two weeks of July visiting small communities from Tuakau to Taumaranui, Murupara to Whakatane and Wairoa to Patea, and 50 odd other places in between.

The Maori Electoral Option message will be taken to these small communities as we head into the final weeks of the Option, which ends on 2 August 2006.

More about the 2006 Maori Electoral Option can be found here. 

Party compliance

Party donations received in 2005 are listed on the Registered Political Parties and Logos section of the elections website.  An excel table with details of party and candidate expenditure returns for the 2005 election is also available.

International work on political participation

A number of developed democracies are looking into how to encourage political participation. The following work on this subject is now available:.

• Promoting democracy is a Dutch government review of policies and programmes designed to encourage participation in 18 OECD countries, including New Zealand. 

• The success of education for citizenship, which aims to increase active participation, is the subject of the latest UK National Foundation for Educational Research report. The findings again underline the need for good teacher professional development if education for citizenship is to be achieved.

• The submissions to the Australian parliamentary committee inquiry into Civics and Electoral Education are also now available.

• Compulsory voting is under consideration in Australia and the UK.

Australian Electoral Amendment Bill

In AustraliaThe Electoral and Referendum Amendment (Electoral Integrity and Other Matters) Bill has completed its passage through the Australian Parliament. This legislation leads to an earlier closing of the electoral rolls (on writ day). It also changes details on party donation disclosure.

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