Electoral Act 1993

Elections - Death or incapacity of candidate

153F: Destruction of ballot papers if by-election interrupted

You could also call this:

"What happens to your vote if a by-election is stopped because a candidate can't continue"

If you are voting in a by-election and the poll is stopped because a candidate has died or can't continue, this rule applies to you. You need to know what happens to the ballot papers that have already been cast. The people in charge of the polling places must take out all the ballot papers from the boxes, package them securely, and send them to the Returning Officer without opening them.

The Returning Officer then gets these packages and must destroy them right away, but only when a District Court Judge or a Justice of the Peace is present. This is what the law says must happen to the ballot papers if a by-election is interrupted due to a candidate's death or incapacity.

You can find more information about the law that was used to make this rule, which is the Electoral Amendment Act 2002, by looking at the Electoral Amendment Act 2002 on the legislation website.

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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=DLM309675.

Topics:

Government and voting > Elections

153E: New election to be held if writ vacated, or

"What happens if an election is cancelled: a new one is held"

153G: Application for cancellation of nomination if candidate incapacitated after close of nominations, or

"How to cancel a candidate's nomination if they become too sick or injured to continue"

Part 6Elections
Death or incapacity of candidate

153FDestruction of ballot papers if by-election interrupted

This section applies if, in the case of a by-election, the poll is interrupted as a result of the death of a constituency candidate or the cancellation of the nomination of a constituency candidate on the grounds of incapacity.
If this section applies,—
all ballot papers that have been placed in ballot boxes must be taken out by the managers of polling places and made up into secured packages; and
those packages must be sent, unopened, to the Returning Officer; and
the Returning Officer must immediately destroy those packages in the presence of a District Court Judge or a Justice of the Peace.

Notes

Section 153F: inserted, on 28 February 2002, by section 61 of the Electoral Amendment Act 2002 (2002 No 1).