3Interpretation

1. In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires,—

   adult—

   1. means a person of or over the age of 18 years; but
   2. where a writ has been issued for an election, includes, on or after the Monday immediately before polling day, a person under the age of 18 years if that person’s 18th birthday falls in the period beginning on that Monday and ending on polling day

   approved electronic medium, in relation to the making of an application or the providing of any information, means an electronic medium approved by the Electoral Commission for the making of that application or the providing of that information

   bribery has the meaning assigned to that term by section 216

   by-election means any election other than a general election

   candidate,—

   1. means a constituency candidate; and
   2. includes a list candidate (other than in Parts 6AA and 6A); and
   3. in the definition of candidate advertisement and in section 3A and Parts 6AA, 6A, 7, and 8 includes a person who has declared his or her intention of becoming a constituency candidate; and
   4. in Parts 7 and 8 includes a person who has declared his or her intention of becoming a list candidate

   candidate advertisement means an advertisement in any medium that may reasonably be regarded as encouraging or persuading voters to do either or both of the following:

   1. to vote for a constituency candidate (whether or not the name of the candidate is stated):
   2. not to vote for a constituency candidate (whether or not the name of the candidate is stated)

   census means the census of population and dwellings carried out by Statistics New Zealand under the Data and Statistics Act 2022

   Chief Electoral Officer means the Chief Electoral Officer appointed under this Act; and includes any person authorised to exercise the powers, duties, and functions of the Chief Electoral Officer

   component party means, in relation to a registered political party (in this definition called the registered party) or in relation to a political party that is applying for registration (in this definition called the applicant party),—

   1. a political party that is a member of the registered party or of the applicant party; or
   2. a political party that has combined some or all of its membership with that of another political party and thereby formed the registered party or the applicant party or augmented the membership of such a party, as the case may be

   constituency candidate means a person who has been nominated as a candidate for a seat in the House of Representatives representing an electoral district

   corrupt practice means any act declared by this Act to be a corrupt practice

   Corrupt Practices List, in relation to any district, means the Corrupt Practices List made out for that district under section 100

   costs includes charges and expenses

   counting day has the meaning given in section 79(2)

   Crown means the Sovereign in respect of the Government of New Zealand

   current financial member, in relation to a political party, means a member of the party—

   1. whose membership of the party resulted from an application made by the member to join the party; and
   2. who is, under the party’s rules, subject to an obligation to pay to the party a membership fee—
      1. on becoming a member; and
      2. then at specified intervals of not more than 3 years; and
   3. who has paid to the party every membership fee that has for the time being become payable by the member in accordance with those rules

   district or electoral district or electorate means a General electoral district or a Maori electoral district constituted under this Act

   election means an election of a member of the House of Representatives

   election advertisement has the meaning given to it by section 3A

   election expenses,—

   1. in relation to a constituency candidate, has the meaning given to it by section 205:
   2. in relation to a party that is registered under Part 4, has the meaning given to it by section 206

   elector, in relation to any district, means a person registered, or qualified to be registered, as an elector of that district

   Electoral Commission means the Electoral Commission established by section 4B

   Electoral Commissioner or Commissioner means a member of the Electoral Commission

   electoral official means any person that the Electoral Commission employs or engages for the purpose of assisting with the performance of its functions

   electoral roll, in relation to any district, means, subject to sections 101 to 103, the forms of application for registration kept by the Electoral Commission of persons registered as electors of that district (including a form returned following an inquiry under section 89D)

   eligible political party means a political party that has at least 500 current financial members who are eligible to enrol as electors

   enduring power of attorney means a power of attorney described in section 95 of the Protection of Personal and Property Rights Act 1988

   general election means an election that takes place after the dissolution or expiration of Parliament

   General electoral district means an electoral district other than a Maori electoral district

   General electoral population means total ordinarily resident population as shown in the last periodical census of population and dwellings with the exception of the Maori electoral population

   Government means the Government of New Zealand

   hospital means a hospital care institution within the meaning of section 58(4) of the Health and Disability Services (Safety) Act 2001

   illegal practice means any act declared by this Act to be an illegal practice

   issuing officer, in relation to a polling place, means the manager of the polling place or a person authorised, under section 158(3)(a), to issue ballot papers in the polling place

   list candidate means any person whose name is specified in a party list submitted to the Electoral Commission under section 127

   main roll, in relation to any district, means, subject to section 107, the main roll printed for the district and for the time being in force

   manager, in relation to a polling place, means the person designated, under section 158(2), as the manager of the polling place

   Maori means a person of the Maori race of New Zealand; and includes any descendant of such a person

   Maori electoral district means an electoral district constituted under section 45

   Māori electoral population means a figure representing both the persons registered as electors of the Māori electoral districts and a proportion of Māori persons who are not registered as electors of any electoral district and a proportion of Māori persons under the age of 18 years, which figure must be fixed—

   1. by ascertaining a proportion determined by dividing—
      1. the total number of persons, on counting day, either—
         1. registered as electors of Māori electoral districts; or
         2. named on the dormant rolls for Māori electoral districts; by
      2. the total number of Māori persons, on counting day, either—
         1. registered as electors of Māori electoral districts or General electoral districts; or
         2. named on the dormant rolls for Māori electoral districts or General electoral districts; and
   2. by applying the proportion ascertained under paragraph (a) to the total number of ordinarily resident Māori persons on census day

   medical practitioner means a health practitioner who is, or is deemed to be, registered with the Medical Council of New Zealand continued by section 114(1)(a) of the Health Practitioners Competence Assurance Act 2003 as a practitioner of the profession of medicine

   member of the Defence Force means any person resident in New Zealand within the meaning of this Act who is for the time being a member of the New Zealand Defence Force constituted by section 11(1) of the Defence Act 1990; and includes any person so resident who is attached to, or employed by, or carries out duties of the New Zealand Defence Force which necessitate his or her being outside New Zealand

   mental impairment, in relation to any person, means an impairment causing a person to lack, wholly or partly, the capacity to understand the nature of any decision about registering as an elector

   meshblock means statistical meshblock

   Minister means the Minister of Justice

   nomination day, in relation to any election, means the day appointed in the writ for that election as the latest day for the nomination of candidates

   on census day has the meaning given in section 79(2)

   party, in Parts 6AA, 6A, and 6B,—

   1. means a political party registered under Part 4; and
   2. includes a political party that at any time during the regulated period has been registered under Part 4

   party advertisement means an advertisement in any medium that may reasonably be regarded as encouraging or persuading voters to do either or both of the following:

   1. to vote for a party (whether or not the name of the party is stated):
   2. not to vote for a party (whether or not the name of the party is stated)

   party secretary or secretary has the meaning given to it by section 3EA

   permanent resident of New Zealand has the meaning assigned thereto by section 73

   personation has the meaning assigned to that term by section 215

   polling day, in relation to any election, means the day appointed in the writ for that election for the polling to take place if a poll is required

   polling place official means a person appointed, under section 158(1), as an official for a polling place

   prescribed means prescribed by this Act or by regulations made thereunder or (for the purposes of Part 8) by rules of court

   prison means a prison established or deemed to be established under the Corrections Act 2004

   prison manager has the same meaning as in section 3(1) of the Corrections Act 2004

   public inspection period means, in relation to a return filed under sections 205K, 206I, 206ZC, 209, 210, 210C, 214C, and 214F, the period—

   1. beginning 3 working days after the date of receipt by the Electoral Commission of the duly completed return; and
   2. ending with the close of polling day for the second general election that takes place after the date of receipt by the Electoral Commission of the duly completed return

   public money has the same meaning as in the Public Finance Act 1989

   public notice or public notification means a notice printed in some newspaper circulating in the district intended to be affected by the notice

   public place has the same meaning as in section 2 of the Summary Offences Act 1981

   public servant—

   1. means a person employed in the service of the Crown, not being honorary service; and
   2. includes a person employed in—
      1. the education service as defined in section 10(7) of the Education and Training Act 2020; or
      2. the Cook Islands Public Service; or
      3. the Western Samoan Public Service; and
   3. includes an electoral official; but
   4. does not include an electoral official who has been appointed as a Deputy Electoral Commissioner or Returning Officer; and
   5. does not include any person to whom subsection (2) or subsection (3) applies; and
   6. does not include—
      1. any person by reason of his or her holding an office for which salary is payable under the Members of Parliament (Remuneration and Services) Act 2013; or
      2. any person by reason of his or her being employed in any of His Majesty's forces except the Royal New Zealand Navy, the Regular Force of the New Zealand Army, or the Regular Air Force of the Royal New Zealand Air Force; or
      3. any person remunerated by fees or commission and not by wages or salary

   Registrar, in relation to any district, means the Registrar of Electors appointed for that district under section 22; and includes his or her deputy

   Registrar of Births and Deaths means Registrar within the meaning of section 4 of the Births, Deaths, Marriages, and Relationships Registration Act 2021

   regulated period has the meaning given to it by—

   1. section 3B, in relation to a general election:
   2. section 3BA, in relation to a by-election

   representative, in Part 5, means,—

   1. in relation to a person who is outside New Zealand, or who has a physical impairment,—
      1. a person who is a registered elector:
      2. an attorney appointed under a power of attorney:
   2. in relation to a person who has a mental impairment,—
      1. a person who is a registered elector:
      2. a welfare guardian appointed under section 12(1) of the Protection of Personal and Property Rights Act 1988:
      3. an attorney appointed under an enduring power of attorney

   residence and to reside have the meanings assigned thereto by section 72

   Returning Officer means an electoral official designated under section 20B; and includes a person authorised to exercise or perform the powers, duties, or functions of a Returning Officer

   roll means an electoral roll, a main roll, or a supplementary roll, as the case may be; and includes a composite roll printed under section 107

   Speaker means—

   1. the Speaker of the House of Representatives; or
   2. if the Speaker of the House of Representatives is (for whatever reason) unable to act, the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives; or
   3. if neither the Speaker of the House of Representatives nor the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives is (for whatever reason) able to act, an Acting Speaker of the House of Representatives who is able to act

   special voter, in relation to any election, means a person qualified under this Act to vote as a special voter at that election

   statement includes not only words but also pictures, visual images, gestures, and other methods of signifying meaning

   supplementary roll, in relation to any district, means a supplementary roll printed for the district and for the time being in force

   treating has the meaning assigned to that term by section 217

   undue influence has the meaning assigned to that term by section 218

   working day means any day of the week other than—

   1. a Saturday, a Sunday, Waitangi Day, Good Friday, Easter Monday, Anzac Day, the Sovereign’s birthday, Te Rā Aro ki a Matariki/Matariki Observance Day, and Labour Day; and
   2. if Waitangi Day or Anzac Day falls on a Saturday or a Sunday, the following Monday; and
   3. a day in the period commencing with 25 December in any year and ending with 15 January in the following year

   writ means a writ for an election issued under this Act

   writ day, in relation to any election, means the day of the issue of the writ for that election.

2. A reference to a numbered form is a reference to the form so numbered in Schedule 2.

3. Where any person—

4. is appointed by the Crown, or the Government, or any department or agency of the Government to be a member of any commission, council, board, committee, or other body; or
5. is a member of any commission, council, board, committee, or other body of which any members receive any payment out of public money,—
he or she shall not by reason of that membership be deemed to be a public servant, whether or not he or she receives any travelling allowances or travelling expenses.

6. No person shall, by reason only of being a head of mission or head of post within the meaning of the Foreign Affairs Act 1988, be deemed to be a State servant within the meaning of section 52(1) or a public servant, whether or not that person receives any salary, allowances, or expenses.