Electoral Act 1993

Registration of electors - Electoral rolls

104: Main roll to be printed

You could also call this:

"The Electoral Commission must print a list of voters for each area at least once a year."

The Electoral Commission has to print a main roll for each district at least once a year. This main roll is a list of all people who are lawfully on the electoral roll for that district on a certain date. You can think of the electoral roll as a list of people who are allowed to vote in elections.

The date for closing the main rolls is fixed in different ways depending on the year. If it's a year when Parliament is due to expire, the Governor-General fixes the date by Order in Council published in the Gazette. In other years, the Electoral Commission fixes the date by notice in the Gazette.

The main roll that is printed for a district stays in use until a new one is printed for that district.

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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=DLM309140.

Topics:

Government and voting > Elections

103: Rolls where Parliament dissolved after change of boundaries and before new rolls completed, or

"What happens to voter lists when Parliament is dissolved before new lists are ready"

105: Supplementary rolls to be printed, or

"Special voting list for people not on the main list is printed for each election"

Part 5Registration of electors
Electoral rolls

104Main roll to be printed

The Electoral Commission must, at least once in each year, print a main roll for each district that contains a list of all persons whose names are lawfully on the electoral roll for the relevant district on a date to be fixed for the closing of the main rolls.
The date to be fixed for the purposes of subsection (1) shall,—
in the case of a year in which Parliament is due to expire, be fixed by the Governor-General by Order in Council published in the Gazette; and
in the case of any other year, be fixed by the Electoral Commission by notice in the Gazette.

Every main roll printed for any district under this section shall be the main roll for the district until a new main roll is printed for the district.

Notes

Section 104(1): replaced, on 21 March 2017, by section 49 of the Electoral Amendment Act 2017 (2017 No 9).
Section 104(2)(a): amended, on 5 August 2013, by section 77(3) of the Legislation Act 2012 (2012 No 119).
Section 104(2)(b): amended, on 1 July 2012, by section 52(17)(p) of the Electoral (Administration) Amendment Act 2011 (2011 No 57).