Citizenship a ‘must’ for General Election candidates

Minister of Internal Affairs Peter Dunne is reminding all people intending to stand as candidates in this year’s General Election that they must be New Zealand citizens.

“All candidates for this year’s General Election must be New Zealand citizens at the time of their nomination, under the Electoral Act. The Department of Internal Affairs manages the citizenship process and makes recommendations to me as Minister.

I make the final decisions”, says Mr Dunne.

New Zealand citizens must meet a variety of criteria including good character requirements, length of residence in New Zealand and proficiency with the English language, among other conditions. All citizenship applicants must attend a citizenship ceremony (a ceremony can be public or private) to become a New Zealand citizen.

“Those intending to put themselves forward as parliamentary candidates and who are unsure of their status or who need to apply for citizenship, should contact the Department. Potential candidates should contact the Department as soon as possible and should allow at least 10 working days for their citizenship submission to be processed”, says Mr Dunne.

According to the Electoral Commission website, nominations for individual candidates must be with Returning Officers by 26 August, bulk nominations by political parties must be with the Electoral Commission by 25 August and party lists must be with Electoral Commission by 26 August.

Background

• find out about New Zealand citizenship
• apply for New Zealand citizenship
• prove you are a New Zealand citizen
• Becoming a candidate in the 2014 General Election

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