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Electoral Act 1993

Elections - Filling of vacancies in other seats

134: Supply of vacancy of seat of member elected from party list

You could also call this:

"Filling a vacant seat in Parliament when a list member leaves"

Illustration for Electoral Act 1993

If you are a member of Parliament elected from a party list and your seat becomes vacant, the Speaker must publish a notice in the Gazette. The notice will say that your seat is vacant and why. The Governor-General will then tell the Electoral Commission to fill the vacant seat by issuing a warrant in form 7.

When the Electoral Commission gets this warrant, they must fill the vacant seat as soon as possible. However, if the vacancy happens between the end of one Parliament and the next general election, this process does not apply.

You can find more information about how party lists work under section 127.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM309468.

Topics:
Government and voting > Elections
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Part 6Elections
Filling of vacancies in other seats

134Supply of vacancy of seat of member elected from party list

  1. If the Speaker is satisfied that the seat of a member elected as a consequence of inclusion of the member’s name on a list submitted under section 127 has become vacant, the Speaker must, without delay, publish a notice of the vacancy and its cause in the Gazette.

  2. The Governor-General must, as soon as practicable after the date of a notice published in accordance with subsection (1), issue to the Electoral Commission a warrant in form 7 directing the Electoral Commission to proceed forthwith to supply the vacancy.

  3. This section does not apply to a vacancy that occurs in the period between a dissolution or expiration of Parliament and the close of polling day at the next general election.

Notes
  • Section 134: substituted, on , by section 51 of the Electoral Amendment Act 2002 (2002 No 1).
  • Section 134(2): amended, on , by section 32(1)(a) of the Electoral (Administration) Amendment Act 2010 (2010 No 26).