Meaning of "election advertisement"

The Bill defines the term "election advertisement" ,for the purposes of the Electoral Act 1993, "unless the context otherwise requires", as an advertisement in any medium that may reasonably be regarded as encouraging or persuading voters: to vote, or not to vote, for one or more candidates; or to vote, or not to vote, for one or more parties; or to vote, or not to vote, for one or more candidates and one or more parties; or to vote, or not to vote, for a type of candidate described or indicated by reference to views or positions that are, or are not, held or taken (whether or not the name of the candidate is stated); or to vote, or not to vote, for a type of party described or indicated by reference to views or positions that are, or are not, held or taken (whether or not the name of the party is stated).

The Bill then details the things which are not election advertisements. These are broadly:

• an advertisement that is published, or caused or permitted to be published, by the Electoral Commission, the Chief Registrar of Electors, or any other agency charged with responsibilities in relation to the conduct of any official publicity or information campaign to be conducted on behalf of the Government of New Zealand;
• any news or comments, other than advertising material, relating to an election in a periodical that is written or selected by, or with the authority of, the editor solely for the purpose of informing, enlightening, or entertaining readers;
• any content of a radio or television programme, other than advertising material, that has been selected by, or with the authority of, a broadcaster (within the meaning of the Broadcasting Act 1989) solely for the purpose of informing, enlightening, or entertaining the programme's audience;
• any news or comments, other than advertising material, published on a news media Internet site that is written or selected by, or with the authority of, the editor or person responsible for the Internet site solely for the purpose of informing, enlightening, or entertaining readers;
• the publication by an individual, on a non-commercial basis, of his or her personal political views on or through the Internet or any other electronic medium (Part 1, Clause 5, inserting New Section 3A into the Act).

Meaning of "regulated period"

The Bill defines the meaning of "regulated period". In the case of a general election, the regulated period commences:

• the day after the date on which the Prime Minister gives notice of polling day, if the period between that day and polling day is less than 3 months; or
• three months before polling day, if the period between the day after the date on which the Prime Minister gives notice of polling day and polling day is more than 3 months; or
• the day that is 3 months before the last possible polling day, if notice of polling day has not been given before that date.

In the case of a by-election, the regulated period commences on the day after the notice of the vacancy is published. In all cases the regulated period ends on the close of the day before polling day (Part 1, Clause 5, inserting New Section 3B into the Act).

Promoters and election advertisements

The Bill defines an "promoter" as a person on whose initiative an election advertisement is published or is to be published and includes, without limitation, a person "who enters into a contract, arrangement, or understanding with another person to the effect that the other person publish an election advertisement" or "who publishes an election advertisement in the absence of such a contract, arrangement, or understanding".

The Bill provides that an unregistered promoter may publish an election advertisement provided that the advertisement contains a promoter statement and their total costs (advertising expenses) do not exceed $12,000. It is also provided that promoters who spend, or intend to spend, over $12,000 on election advertising during the regulated period are required to register with the Electoral Commission. Promoters are required to keep records of their advertising expenses for a specified period of time. The Bill sets out detailed provisions relating to the registration of promoters who may not be: a constituency candidate; a list candidate; a party secretary; or a person involved in the administration of the affairs of a candidate in relation to the candidate's election campaign or the affairs of a party (Part 1, Clause 7, inserting New Part 6AA, New Sections 204A-204Y).

Campaign expenditure limits

The Bill provides that the total election expenses of a candidate in respect of any regulated period must not exceed:

• $20,300 (or such other amount as is prescribed by the Governor-General by Order in Council), in the case of a candidate at a general election; and
• $40,600 (or such other amount as is prescribed by the Governor-General by Order in Council) in the case of a candidate at a by-election (Part 1, Clause 8, substituting Section 205 of the Act, and inserting New Sections 205A-205EA).
• The Bill provides that if a party is listed in the part of the ballot paper that relates to the party vote, the total election expenses of that party in respect of any regulated period must not exceed:
• $1,015,000 (or such other amount as is prescribed by the Governor-General by Order in Council); and
• $20,300 (or such other amount as is prescribed by the Governor-General by Order in Council) for each electoral district contested by a candidate for the party.
• The Bill provides that the maximum amount of expenses that may be incurred by an unregistered promoter, a candidate, and a party are to be adjusted each year by Order in Council to reflect the movement in the Consumers Price Index All Groups (called CPI in the Bill (Part 1, Subpart 2, substituting Section 206 and inserting New Sections 206A- 206CC into the Act; Part 2, Clause 26, inserting New Section 266A into the Act).

Comment

"The Bill adjusts the expenditure limits for candidates and parties for the 2011 general election in line with inflation. For subsequent elections, the expenditure limits will be adjusted annually by Order in Council at the rate of inflation. These adjustments are important to align with current costs and were recommended as part of the 1986 Royal Commission Report on the Electoral System" [3]   .

Donations

The Bill provides that a party donation made by a body corporate must be accompanied by a written statement that is signed and dated by an officer of the body corporate and that:

• sets out the names of all the "associated entities" of the body corporate as at the date of the statement; or
• states that, as at that date, there are no associated entities of the body corporate (Part 1, Subpart 2, Clause 14, inserting New Section 207BA into the Act).

If a party secretary receives a party donation that has been made by a body corporate and that does not comply with the above in any respect, the party secretary must, within twenty working days of receipt of the donation, give back to the donor the entire amount of the donation or its entire value.

The Bill provides that bodies corporate are associated entities if:

• each body corporate has 12 or fewer members or shareholders and at least half of those members or shareholders are the same; or
• at least half the persons who control each body corporate are the same; or
• one of the bodies corporate has the power, directly or indirectly, to exercise, or control the exercise of, 25% or more of the voting power at a meeting of the other or is able to appoint or control 25% or more of the governing body of the other; or
• each body corporate is a subsidiary (within the meaning of the Companies Act 1993) of the same holding company (Part 1, Subpart 2, Clause 13, amending Section 207 of the Act).

The Bill provides that whenever a party secretary receives a donation from a body corporate (body A), the party secretary must, on the basis of the information provided under section 207BA (described above), check whether party donations have been received from one or more other bodies corporate (bodies B) that are associated entities of body A.

The Bill makes similar provision in respect of a party donation that is wholly or partly funded from corporate contributions. Such a party donation must be accompanied by a statement from an officer of every contributing corporation as provided above. Similar provisions as detailed above apply in all respects (Part 1,Subpart 2, Clause 14 (inserting New Sections 207BA-207CB into the Act) and Clause 16 (inserting New Sections 207CA-207CB into the Act).

Comment

"The donations regime introduced in the Electoral Finance Act 2007 was largely carried over into the Electoral Act 1993. This Bill puts in place additional measures to strengthen the transparency of political party and candidate funding" [4]   .

Overseas donation may not exceed $1,000

The Bill provides that if a candidate receives from an overseas person a donation that either on its own or when aggregated with all other donations made by or on behalf of the same overseas person for use in the same campaign exceeds $1,000, the candidate must, within twenty working days of receipt of the donation:

• return to the overseas person the total amount donated by the overseas person, or its value, less $1,000; or
• if this is not possible, pay the total amount donated by the overseas person, or its value, less $1,000 to the Chief Electoral Officer.

The Bill provides further that if a party secretary receives from an overseas person a donation that either on its own or when aggregated with all other donations made by or on behalf of the same overseas person during the same year ending 31 December exceeds $1,000, the party secretary must, within 20 working days of receipt of the donation:

• return to the overseas person the total amount donated by the overseas person, or its value, less $1,000; or
• if this is not possible, pay the total amount donated by the overseas person, or its value, less $1,000 to the Electoral Commission (Part 1, Subpart 2, Clause 17, amending Section 207K of the Act).

Advance voting

The Bill also amends the special voting provisions in the Electoral Act 1993 and the Electoral Regulations 1996 to provide that a person whose name appears on the main roll or any supplementary roll for an electoral district and who is qualified to vote in that district may vote as a special voter if they apply to vote within that district in person before polling day and they will not be required to complete a written declaration establishing eligibility (Part 1, Clause 6 amending Section 61 of the Act by adding new subsection (3)).

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