The Electoral Commission () is an independent Crown entity set up by the New Zealand Parliament. It is responsible for the administration of parliamentary elections and referendums, promoting compliance with electoral laws, servicing the work of the Representation Commission, and the provision of advice, reports and public education on electoral matters. The commission also assists electoral agencies of other countries on a reciprocal basis with their electoral events.

Objective The Electoral Act 1993 defines the objective of the Electoral Commission as

"to administer the electoral system impartially, efficiently, effectively, and in a way that – Facilitates participation in parliamentary democracy; and Promotes understanding of the electoral system; and Maintains confidence in the administration of the electoral system"

Functions The functions of the Electoral Commission are defined by law and in summary comprise: Preparation and conduct of general elections, by-elections, and referendums Allocating government monies to registered political parties for radio and television broadcasting Promoting public awareness of electoral matters through education and information programmes Giving advice to the minister and the House of Representatives on electoral matters referred to the commission Making available information to assist political parties, candidates, and third parties to meet their statutory obligations in respect of electoral matters administered by the commission Compiling and maintaining electoral rolls (from 1 July 2012)

Independence The Electoral Commission is an independent Crown entity. The responsible minister may not direct the commission to give effect to, or have regard to, government policy.

In addition: the governor-general appoints and removes electoral commissioners on the recommendation of the House of Representatives the Electoral Commission has a statutory duty to act independently in performing its statutory duties and functions and exercising its powers the Electoral Commission may provide information and advice to the minister of justice or the House of Representatives at any time and of its own volition

Board members The Electoral Commission board has six members, appointed by the governor-general, including one member as the chairperson, one member as the deputy chairperson and the chief electoral officer, who is the chief executive of the Electoral Commission.

In June 2026 it was announced that the Electoral Commission board had expanded from three to six members. The three new members, David O'Connor, Murray Jack, and Sue Elliott, are serving three year terms, which began in May 2026.

Position Name Portrait Date of appointment Chair Simon Moore 18 November 2024 Deputy chair Jane Meares 19 August 2019 Chief electoral officer Karl Le Quesne 21 April 2022 Board member David O'Connor 22 May 2026 Board member Murray Jack 22 May 2026 Board member Sue Elliott 22 May 2026

Electoral events conducted by the Electoral Commission Electoral event Date Mana by-election 20 November 2010 Botany by-election 5 March 2011 Te Tai Tokerau by-election 25 June 2011 2011 general election 26 November 2011 Referendum on the voting system 26 November 2011 MMP Review February–October 2012 Ikaroa-Rawhiti by-election 29 June 2013 2013 New Zealand local elections 12 October 2016 Christchurch East by-election 30 November 2013 Asset sales referendum 22 November – 13 December 2013 2014 general election 20 September 2014 Northland by-election 28 March 2015 First New Zealand flag referendum 20 November – 11 December 2015 Second New Zealand flag referendum 3–24 March 2016 2016 New Zealand local elections 8 October 2016 Mount Roskill by-election 3 December 2016 Mount Albert by-election 25 February 2017 2017 general election 23 September 2017 Northcote by-election 9 June 2018 2020 general election 17 October 2020 2020 cannabis referendum 17 October 2020 2020 euthanasia referendum 17 October 20202022 Tauranga by-election18 June 20222022 Hamilton West by-election10 December 20222023 general election 14 October 20232023 Port Waikato by-election25 November 2023

History

Formation The Electoral (Administration) Amendment Bill, passed unanimously by Parliament on 19 May 2010, established a new independent Electoral Commission which was given overarching responsibility to administer elections.

The Electoral Commission, which took over the responsibilities of the Chief Electoral Office and the previous Electoral Commission, was formed on 1 October 2010.

On 1 July 2012, the statutory responsibilities of the Electoral Enrolment Centre of NZ Post were transferred to the commission in accordance with the Electoral (Administration) Amendment Act 2011.

Previous incarnation The previous Electoral Commission of New Zealand (1993–2010) was a governmental body responsible for administering certain aspects of the country's electoral system. It was an independent Crown entity, not part of any larger department or Ministry, and was established under the Electoral Act 1993. It worked alongside two other bodies, the Chief Electoral Office and the Electoral Enrolment Centre.

The four primary functions of the previous Electoral Commission were: Registration of political parties – The commission was responsible for scrutinising and approving all changes to the electoral register. A place on the register allowed parties to contest the party vote in general elections. Unregistered parties could put forward individual candidates, but could not receive votes for proportional representation under the mixed-member proportional representation system. The commission must have been satisfied that such a party met the requirements for registration, such as having 500 financial members. Allocating broadcasting funding – Political parties were given state funding for any broadcasting they conducted in an election campaign. The commission was responsible for dividing money between the various parties, taking into account a party's membership, current number of MPs, previous election performance, and current polling. The commission also supervised the actual payment of this funding. Supervision of financial declarations – To ensure transparency, parties were required to submit records showing how much money they received as donations and how much money they spent campaigning. The commission supervised this process. Public education – The commission was the primary body charged with ensuring strong public awareness of how elections in New Zealand work.

For most business, the previous Electoral Commission consisted of four members – a president, a chief executive, the head of the Ministry of Justice, and the chief judge of the Māori Land Court.

Two additional members, one appointed by the Government and one by the opposition, participated in the commission, e.g. on the allocation of broadcasting funds. This participation was generally condemned by smaller parties, which claimed that Labour and National unfairly monopolised funding. These additional members were removed by Labour through the Electoral Finance Act 2007 (EFA); but the Act was repealed by National in 2009, with clauses of the EFA dealing with donation disclosure inserted into the 1993 Electoral Act.

References

External links New Zealand Electoral Commission's website New Zealand Electoral Commission's website for the review of the MMP Voting System New Zealand Electoral Commission's website for election results