Electoral Act 1993

Elections - Death or incapacity of candidate

152: Death before close of nominations

You could also call this:

"What happens if an election candidate dies before nominations close"

If you are a candidate in an election and you die before the nominations close, your nomination is treated as if you never nominated. Your deposit will be returned to your personal representatives or the person who paid it. You need to know that if you die on nomination day before noon, or on any of the 3 days before, the close of nominations will be postponed. The Returning Officer will let the public know that the close of nominations has been postponed and when the new close of nominations will be. If you were nominated in a special way, such as in a bulk nomination schedule or under section 146K, the Electoral Commission will do the job of the Returning Officer.

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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=DLM309650.

Topics:

Government and voting > Elections

151A: Interpretation, or

"What words like 'incapacitated' mean in election law"

152A: Incapacity of candidate before close of nominations, or

"What happens if an election candidate can't continue before nominations end"

Part 6Elections
Death or incapacity of candidate

152Death before close of nominations

If a constituency candidate who has been nominated and has not withdrawn his or her nomination dies before the close of nominations,—
his or her nomination is to be treated in all respects as if it had not been made; and
his or her deposit must be returned to his or her personal representatives or, as the case may be, to the person who paid it.

Subsection (3) applies if the candidate dies on nomination day before noon, or on any of the 3 days immediately before nomination day.
If this subsection applies, then, once the Returning Officer is satisfied of the fact of death,—
the time for the close of nominations in that district is postponed until noon on the fourth day after the date of the candidate’s death; and
the Returning Officer must immediately give public notice of the fact that the close of nominations in that district has been postponed and of the new time for the close of nominations.

If subsection (3) applies, but the candidate was nominated in a bulk nomination schedule or in accordance with section 146K, the references to Returning Officer in subsection (3) are to be read as references to the Electoral Commission.

Notes

Section 152: substituted, on 28 February 2002, by section 61 of the Electoral Amendment Act 2002 (2002 No 1).
Section 152(4): amended, on 1 October 2010, by section 32(1)(a) of the Electoral (Administration) Amendment Act 2010 (2010 No 26).