MEDIA RELEASE
Wednesday 26 October
Electoral Commission
Te Kaitiaki Take Kōwhiri

Chief Justice Gives Direction to Conduct Election And Call for Nominations

The Chief Justice, Rt Hon Dame Sian Elias, acting as the Administrator of the Government, has given the green light for this year’s General Election.

The Chief Justice has signed the writ directing the Electoral Commission to conduct the General Election on 26 November 2011. This is the formal authority to run the 2011 election, and enables candidate nominations to open tomorrow Thursday 27 October 2011.

“The issue of the writ is a key constitutional step in the election process. The writ sets out the dates for candidate nominations to close, election day and the date the writ must be returned showing the successful electorate candidates,” says Robert Peden, Chief Electoral Officer.

Under the Electoral Act the writ must be issued within seven days of the dissolution of Parliament.

The Electoral Commission must return the writ with the names of the successful electorate candidates to the Clerk of the House of Representatives within 50 days of its issue, by December 15, if no application for a recount is received.

Candidate nominations close at:
• 12 noon on Monday 31 October for bulk nominations by registered political parties direct to the Electoral Commission.
• 12 noon on Tuesday 1 November for individual nominations to the Returning Officer for the electorate.

These deadlines cannot be extended.

A full list of parties and candidates is expected to be publicly available from www.elections.org.nz by 2pm, Wednesday 2 November 2011.

Other key events triggered by the issuing of the writ are:

• The Electoral Rolls close for printing, and all voters enrolled after this date cast special declaration votes.
• Candidate and party television and radio advertising may start.

ENDS

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