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Electoral Act 1993

Elections - Nominations

146: Withdrawal of nomination

You could also call this:

"How to pull out of being a candidate in an election"

Illustration for Electoral Act 1993

You can withdraw your nomination as a constituency candidate by giving a signed notice. The notice must be in a form that the Electoral Commission has approved and be witnessed as specified in the form. You must lodge the notice with the Electoral Commission by noon on nomination day for it to be effective. If you withdraw your nomination, your deposit will be returned to the person who paid it. You need to follow the rules to withdraw your nomination. The Electoral Commission must get your notice on time. You can find more information about the Electoral Commission and the nomination process in the Electoral Act 1993. The Electoral Amendment Act 2017 and the Electoral Amendment Act 2025 have made some changes to the nomination process. You can read about these changes on the Electoral Amendment Act 2017 and Electoral Amendment Act 2025 pages.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM309604.

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Topics:
Government and voting > Elections
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145: Acceptance or rejection of nomination, or

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Part 6Elections
Nominations

146Withdrawal of nomination

  1. A constituency candidate may, by giving signed notice, withdraw his or her nomination.

  2. The notice must—

  3. be in a form that the Electoral Commission has approved; and
    1. be witnessed as specified in the form.

      1. No withdrawal of nomination shall have any effect unless it is lodged with the Electoral Commission not later than noon on nomination day.

      2. Where a candidate has duly withdrawn his or her nomination his or her deposit shall be returned to the person who paid it.

      Notes
      • Section 146(1): replaced, on , by section 72 of the Electoral Amendment Act 2017 (2017 No 9).
      • Section 146(1A): inserted, on , by section 72 of the Electoral Amendment Act 2017 (2017 No 9).
      • Section 146(2): amended, on , by section 86 of the Electoral Amendment Act 2025 (2025 No 82).