Electoral (Finance Reform and Advance Voting) Amendment Act 2010

5 New sections 3A to 3F and heading inserted

• The following sections are inserted after section 3:

  “3A Meaning of election advertisement

  • “(1) In this Act, election advertisement—

    • “(a) means an advertisement in any medium that may reasonably be regarded as encouraging or persuading voters to do either or both of the following:

      • “(i) 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):

      • “(ii) 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); and

    • “(b) includes—

      • “(i) a candidate advertisement; and

      • “(ii) a party advertisement.

    “(2) None of the following are election advertisements:

    • “(a) an advertisement that—

      • “(i) 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; and

      • “(ii) relates to electoral matters or the conduct of any general election or by-election; and

      • “(iii) contains either—

        • “(A) a statement indicating that the advertisement has been authorised by that officer or agency; or

        • “(B) a symbol indicating that the advertisement has been authorised by that officer or agency:

    • “(b) contact information (as defined in subsection (3)) published in any medium by a member of Parliament that satisfies all of the following requirements:

      • “(i) the information was published by a member of Parliament in the course of performing his or her role and functions as a member of Parliament; and

      • “(ii) the information was prepared for publication and published by the member of Parliament using funding received under Vote Parliamentary Service; and

      • “(iii) the information was routinely published in that medium before the commencement of the regulated period and continues to be published in that medium during the regulated period; and

      • “(iv) the information is published during the regulated period no more often and to no greater extent than before the commencement of the regulated period; and

      • “(v) the information is published during the regulated period in the same form and style as before the commencement of the regulated period; and

      • “(vi) the information is not included, combined, or associated with an election advertisement (as defined in subsection (1)), or with any other information so as to constitute an election advertisement, that is published by—

        • “(A) the member of Parliament; or

        • “(B) the secretary of the party to which the member of Parliament belongs; or

        • “(C) any other person with the authority of the member of Parliament:

    • “(c) the editorial content of—

      • “(i) a periodical:

      • “(ii) a radio or television programme:

      • “(iii) a publication on a news media Internet site:

    • “(d) any transmission (whether live or not) of proceedings in the House of Representatives:

    • “(e) any publication on the Internet, or other electronic medium, of personal political views by an individual who does not make or receive a payment in respect of the publication of those views.

    “(3) In this section,—

    “contact information, in relation to a member of Parliament, means information that—

    • “(a) must include—

      • “(i) the name of the member of Parliament; and

      • “(ii) the contact details of the member of Parliament, being 1 or more of the following:

        • “(A) telephone number:

        • “(B) physical or postal address:

        • “(C) email address; and

      • “(iii) the name of the electoral district that the member of Parliament represents or, if the member has not been elected to represent an electoral district, the fact that the member has been elected from a party list; and

    • “(b) may include 1 or more of the following:

      • “(i) a photograph of the member of Parliament:

      • “(ii) the website address of either or both—

        • “(A) the member of Parliament:

        • “(B) the party to which the member of Parliament belongs:

      • “(iii) the name of the party to which the member of Parliament belongs:

      • “(iv) the logo of the party to which the member of Parliament belongs:

      • “(v) the times when the member of Parliament is available for consultation by the public

    “periodical means a newspaper, magazine, or trade or professional journal that—

    • “(a) was established for purposes unrelated to the conduct of election campaigns; and

    • “(b) since its establishment has been—

      • “(i) published at regular intervals; and

      • “(ii) generally available to members of the public.

    “Compare: 1993 No 87 ss 221(1), (6), 221A(2), (4) (pre-1 January 2011); 2007 No 111 ss 4, 5(2)

  “3B Meaning of regulated period

  • “(1) In this Act, regulated period, in relation to a general election, has the meaning given to it by subsections (2) and (3).

    “(2) If before the close of the default day the Prime Minister gives public notice of the day that is to be polling day for the election, the regulated period—

    • “(a) commences on the later of the following days:

      • “(i) the day after the date on which the Prime Minister gives that public notice:

      • “(ii) the day that is 3 months before polling day; and

    • “(b) ends with the close of the day before polling day.

    “(3) If at the close of the default day the Prime Minister has not given public notice of the day that is to be polling day for the election, the regulated period—

    • “(a) commences on the close of the default day; and

    • “(b) ends with the close of the day before polling day.

    “(4) In this Act, regulated period, in relation to a by-election, means the period that—

    • “(a) commences on the day after the notice of the vacancy to be filled by the by-election is published under section 129(1); and

    • “(b) ends with the close of the day before polling day.

    “(5) In this section,—

    “default day means the day that is 2 years and 9 months after the polling day for the preceding general election

    “give public notice means issue a media statement.

  “3C Electoral Commission to publish details relating to regulated period

  • The Electoral Commission must, as soon as practicable after the commencement of the regulated period for a general election, publish in the Gazette notice of—

    • “(a) the date on which the regulated period commenced; and

    • “(b) the date on which the regulated period will end.

  “3D Meaning of publish

  • In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires, publish, in relation to an election advertisement, means to bring to the notice of a person in any manner—

    • “(a) including—

      • “(i) displaying on any medium:

      • “(ii) distributing by any means:

      • “(iii) delivering to an address:

      • “(iv) leaving at a place:

      • “(v) sending by post or otherwise:

      • “(vi) printing in a newspaper or other periodical:

      • “(vii) broadcasting by any means:

      • “(viii) disseminating by means of the Internet or any other electronic medium:

      • “(ix) storing electronically in a way that is accessible to the public:

      • “(x) incorporating in a device for use with a computer:

      • “(xi) inserting in a film or video; but

    • “(b) excluding addressing 1 or more persons face to face.

  “3E Meaning of advertising expenses

  • “(1) In this Act, advertising expenses, in relation to an election advertisement—

    • “(a) includes—

      • “(i) the cost incurred in the preparation, design, composition, printing, postage, and publication of the advertisement; and

      • “(ii) the reasonable market value of any material used for or applied towards the advertisement, including any such material that is provided free of charge or below reasonable market value; but

    • “(b) excludes the cost of—

      • “(i) the conduct of any survey or public opinion poll; and

      • “(ii) any framework (other than a commercial framework) that supports a hoarding on which the advertisement is displayed; and

      • “(iii) the labour of any person that is provided free of charge by that person; and

      • “(iv) the replacement of any material used in respect of the advertisement if that advertisement has been destroyed or rendered unusable by—

        • “(A) 1 or more persons, other than the person promoting the advertisement (person A):

        • “(B) the occurrence of an event beyond the control of person A, or any person acting on behalf of person A.

    “(2) To avoid doubt, advertising expenses does not include the cost (including running costs) of any vehicle used to display an election advertisement if the use of the vehicle for that purpose is not the subject of a contract, arrangement, or understanding for the payment of money or money's worth.

    “(3) In this section, vehicle has the meaning given to it by section 2(1) of the Land Transport Act 1998.

  “Extraterritorial application

  “3F Application of Act to conduct outside New Zealand

  • “(1) The provisions of Part 6AA and 6A apply in respect of the publication of an election advertisement—

    • “(a) in New Zealand, in any case where the promoter of the advertisement is outside New Zealand; and

    • “(b) outside New Zealand, in any case where the promoter of the advertisement is in New Zealand.

    “(2) Subsection (1) does not affect the application of the provisions of this Act (other than those provisions in Parts 6AA and 6A that apply in respect of the publication of an election advertisement) in respect of an offence that under any provision of the Crimes Act 1961 is deemed to be committed in New Zealand.”