Plain language law

New Zealand law explained for everyone

Electoral Act 1993

Registration of electors - Qualification of electors

74: Qualification of electors

You could also call this:

"Who can vote in New Zealand elections"

Illustration for Electoral Act 1993

To be qualified to vote in New Zealand, you must be an adult and meet certain conditions. You must be a New Zealand citizen or a permanent resident of New Zealand, and you must have lived in New Zealand for at least one year. You must also have lived in the electoral district you want to vote in for at least one month, or it must be the district where you live now if you have never lived in one district for a month. If an election is happening, you can vote in the district you live in on the Monday before polling day if you would have lived there for a month by the time the voting finishes.

This text is automatically generated. It might be out of date or be missing some parts. Find out more about how we do this.

This page was last updated on

View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM308827.

Topics:
Government and voting > Elections
Previous

73: Meaning of permanent resident of New Zealand, or

"Who is a permanent resident of New Zealand?"

Next

75: Registration in respect of more than 1 electoral district, or

"Voting: you can only be on the list in one area"

Part 5Registration of electors
Qualification of electors

74Qualification of electors

  1. Subject to the provisions of this Act, every adult person is qualified to be registered as an elector of an electoral district if—

  2. that person is—
    1. a New Zealand citizen; or
      1. a permanent resident of New Zealand; and
      2. that person has at some time resided continuously in New Zealand for a period of not less than 1 year; and
        1. that electoral district—
          1. is the last in which that person has continuously resided for a period equalling or exceeding 1 month; or
            1. where that person has never resided continuously in any one electoral district for a period equalling or exceeding 1 month, is the electoral district in which that person resides or has last resided.

            2. Where a writ has been issued for an election, every person—

            3. who resides in an electoral district on the Monday before polling day; and
              1. who would, if he or she continued to reside in that electoral district until the close of polling day, have continuously resided in that electoral district for a period equalling or exceeding 1 month,—
                  1. shall (whether or not he or she does so continue to reside in that electoral district) be deemed, for the purposes of subsection (1)(c), to have completed on that Monday a period of 1 month’s continuous residence in that electoral district.