Electoral Act 1993

Officers

20B: Designation of Returning Officers

You could also call this:

"The person in charge of running an election in a district is called a Returning Officer."

When an election is held in a district, the Electoral Commission must choose an electoral official to be the Returning Officer for that district. They must do this by giving the official a written notice. You can think of a Returning Officer as a kind of manager for the election in their district. The Electoral Commission's choice of Returning Officer is important because it affects how the election is run in that district. A Returning Officer is also considered a public servant, which means they have certain responsibilities and rules to follow, as outlined in sections like sections 28(2)(f) and 80(3)(a)(i).

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This page was last updated on 18 July 2025

View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM308166.

Topics:

Government and voting > Elections

20A: Electoral officials under direction of Electoral Commission, or

"The Electoral Commission is in charge of electoral officials and tells them what to do."

20C: Returning Officers may delegate functions, duties, or powers, or

"Returning Officers can give some of their jobs to other officials."

Part 2Officers

20BDesignation of Returning Officers

For every election to be held in a district, the Electoral Commission must, by notice in writing, designate an electoral official as the Returning Officer for the district.
A Returning Officer is a public servant for the purposes of sections 28(2)(f) and 80(3)(a)(i).

Notes

Section 20B: inserted, on 28 February 2002, by section 6(1) of the Electoral Amendment Act 2002 (2002 No 1).
Section 20B(1): amended, on 1 October 2010, by section 32(1)(a) of the Electoral (Administration) Amendment Act 2010 (2010 No 26).
Section 20B(2): added, on 1 October 2010, by section 32(2)(a) of the Electoral (Administration) Amendment Act 2010 (2010 No 26).