Electoral Amendment Regulations 2017

2017/83

Coat of Arms of New Zealand

Electoral Amendment Regulations 2017

Hon Sir William Young, Administrator of the Government

Order in Council

At Wellington this 8th day of May 2017

Present:
His Excellency the Administrator of the Government in Council

These regulations are made under section 267 of the Electoral Act 1993 on the advice and with the consent of the Executive Council.

Regulations

1 Title

These regulations are the Electoral Amendment Regulations 2017.

2 Commencement

These regulations come into force on 23 June 2017.

3 Principal regulations

These regulations amend the Electoral Regulations 1996 (the principal regulations).

4 Regulation 37 amended (Allowance or disallowance of votes by Returning Officer)

(1)

In regulation 37(1) and (1A), replace “have been endorsed” with “are shown”.

(2)

In regulation 37(2), replace “Where a declaration has been endorsed with the word “Qualified”” with “If the word “Qualified” is shown on a declaration”.

5 Regulation 43 amended (Overseas Returning Officers and Overseas Issuing Officers)

(1)

Replace regulation 43(2)(c) with:

(c)

declarations in a form that the Electoral Commission has approved for use by special voters under this Part or Part 4; and

(2)

Replace regulation 43(3)(b) with:

(b)

declarations in a form that the Electoral Commission has approved for use by special voters under this Part or Part 4; and

6 Part 4 heading amended

In the Part 4 heading, replace “fishing vessels,” with “vessels, offshore installations, remote islands administered by Department of Conservation,”.

7 Regulation 53 amended (Application of Part)

(1)

In regulation 53(b), delete “fishing”.

(2)

After regulation 53(b), insert:

(ba)

special voters on offshore installations; and

(bb)

special voters on remote islands administered by the Department of Conservation; and

8 Regulation 55 amended (Electoral Commission to forward special voting papers to Issuing Officers)

(1)

Replace regulation 55(1)(c) with:

(c)

declarations in a form that the Electoral Commission has approved for use by special voters under this Part or Part 4; and

(2)

Replace regulation 55(2)(b) with:

(b)

declarations in a form that the Electoral Commission has approved for use by special voters under this Part or Part 4; and

9 Regulation 57 amended (Electoral Commission may issue special voting papers to special voters)

Replace regulation 57(2)(d) with:

(d)

by dictation, if—

(i)

it is impracticable to issue them by any of the methods specified in paragraphs (a) to (c); and

(ii)

the request of the special voter to issue a vote by dictation is made no later than 4 pm on the Thursday before polling day.

10 Regulation 58 amended (Dictation of special votes)

In regulation 58(2), replace “4 pm New Zealand time on the Thursday before” with “7 pm New Zealand time on”.

Michael Webster,
Clerk of the Executive Council.

Explanatory note

This note is not part of the regulations, but is intended to indicate their general effect.

These regulations, which come into force on 23 June 2017, amend the Electoral Regulations 1996 (the principal regulations).

Regulation 37 is amended to remove references to declarations being “endorsed”. This amendment is consequential to a recommendation made in the Justice and Electoral Committee’s Report on the Inquiry into the 2014 general election (the report) that the principal regulations be amended to facilitate a fully electronic process for special vote declaration processing.

The principal regulations are also amended to extend the application of special voting under Part 4 to voters on vessels not scheduled to return to port during the polling period, voters on offshore installations, and voters on remote islands administered by the Department of Conservation. These amendments give effect to changes recommended in the report.

Regulations 57 and 58 are amended to give effect to a recommendation made in the report that special voters be able to request dictation voting until 4 pm on the Thursday before polling day, and that the deadline for casting a vote by dictation be 7 pm on polling day.

Issued under the authority of the Legislation Act 2012.

Date of notification in Gazette: 11 May 2017.

These regulations are administered by the Ministry of Justice.