The Annual Report of the Electoral Commission for the year ended 30 Jun 2009 was tabled in the House on 10 November 2009.  The  key points are below.  The full report is available under Downloads, right.

Key points

 Overview

The General Election was held on 8 November 2008. The Commission carried out its statutory functions in respect of the election including the provision of public information, the allocation of broadcasting time and money for political party advertising on television and radio and the administration of new law on electoral finance. The new law tested the capacity of the Commission and posed challenges also for political parties and third parties seeking to comply with it. 

The Government introduced a bill into the House on 22 October 2009 which proposes to abolish the Commission and to transfer its functions, assets and liabilities to a new entity with effect from 1 October 2010. The Commission’s next Statement of Intent, Business Plan, and Memorandum of Understanding with the Minister of Justice, will need to change accordingly.

In May 2009 the Chief Executive of the Commission, Dr Helena Catt, completed her term and was replaced by David Henry. The Commission records its appreciation to Dr Catt for her contribution over the last 5 years. The Commission also records its thanks to the outgoing President, the Hon Andrew McGechan, who resigned with effect from 30 June 2009.

Promotion of Public Awareness of Electoral Matters

Election Information Campaign
The bulk of the Commission’s expenditure promoting public awareness of electoral matters is incurred in election year. An allocation of $1.05million was received for the year to conduct an MMP awareness programme, the “two ticks’’ advertisements in the media. The aim of the Commission’s programme was to reinforce or extend voters’ knowledge of MMP, especially the importance of the party vote in determining the number of seats a party gains in Parliament. The key messages were incorporated in the Commission’s multi-language leaflet inserted into the Easy Vote pack sent to every elector by the Chief Electoral Office.

The public information campaign also promoted the ease and relevance of taking part, with a particular focus on engaging young people with these messages. Youth-focused television and radio activity, use of online social media, bus stop and poster activity and text messaging aimed to educate about MMP, promote ease of participation and challenge complacency.

Information in 20 languages including Māori and 18 migrant languages was included in the EasyVote pack sent to all electors, in targeted media, in audio format on the elections website and in a special NZ Herald supplement.

Market research before the 2008 general election indicated that 58% of New Zealanders found MMP easy to understand (54% at the same period in 2005).

Ongoing Public Information and Education Campaign
In addition to the education campaign prior to the 2008 general election, the Commission conducted ongoing education work designed to build knowledge, encourage action and influence future participation. This included working with schools, teachers and students, provision of teaching and learning resources and engaging with journalism schools and students.

The Elections New Zealand website is the Commission’s core channel of public education and information content. It was rated the number one public sector website by the www.e-govwatch.org.nz audit in the 2008/2009 financial year.

Registration of Political Parties and Logos

There were 19 political parties and 44 political party logos registered as at 30 June 2009. During the 12 months 3 new parties registered and 2 parties asked to be removed from the register.

Listing of Third Parties

There were 25 third parties listed as at 30 June 2009. The listing of one third party was challenged by way of judicial review. In its second decision the High Court held that the third party had been correctly listed.

Allocation of Broadcasting Time and Money

19 parties sought a share of the parliamentary allocation of $3.2 million (GST inclusive) for election broadcasting, and for state television and radio time for opening and closing addresses. The final allocation was made on 15 October 2008 to the 15 parties eligible at that date.

One party unsuccessfully applied for judicial review of the initial allocation decision. The party has appealed to the Court of Appeal and the case is scheduled for hearing in October 2009.

Supervision of Compliance with the Electoral Finance Act 2007

The Electoral Finance Act 2007 made a number of significant changes to the compliance requirements for political parties and introduced parallel compliance obligations for third parties.

In the period 1 July 2008 to 30 June 2009 the Commission formally considered 102 potential contraventions of the electoral finance regime. In 43 instances the Commission formed the view that an offence had been committed, and it referred 16 of those to the Police.

Contraventions considered included failure to comply with the requirements for election advertisements, the payment of election expenses, the filing of returns of election expenses and the filing of donation returns.

The Commission also responded to a significant number of queries and complaints about the application of, and compliance with, the new regime.

Donations Protected from Disclosure

The Electoral Commission received $91,000 in donations protected from disclosure and paid those donations to the three political parties nominated by the donors. No protected donations were received for listed third parties.

Provision of Advice on Electoral Matters

Electoral Commission staff provided commentary and advice to the Ministry of Justice as it worked on the repeal of the Electoral Finance Act 2007 and the transfer of the donations regime from that Act to the Electoral Act 1993. The Commission continues to work with the Ministry on the proposed reform of the electoral finance regime and on other legislative proposals. The Commission also continues to provide advice as requested directly to the Minister of Justice where appropriate and to the Justice and Electoral Select Committee. The Commission also provided input to that Committee’s Inquiry into the 2008 general election.

Amalgamation of the Electoral Agencies

The Government introduced a bill into the House on 22 October 2009 which proposes to abolish the Commission and to transfer its functions, assets and liabilities to a new entity with effect from 1 October 2010. The Commission is working with Ministry of Justice officials on the implications of this change.