Electoral Act 1993

Elections - Return of writ

186: Electoral Commission may correct writ

You could also call this:

"The Electoral Commission can fix mistakes on election documents to make sure they are correct."

The Electoral Commission can fix mistakes on a writ if they think someone's name is not recorded correctly. You can think of a writ like an official document that says who was elected to represent an area. If the Electoral Commission finds a mistake, one of their representatives can make changes to the writ to fix it, and they can do this before or after they send the writ to someone else as required by section 185(1).

Before making any changes, the Electoral Commissioner must talk to the person whose name is on the writ and the Returning Officer. The Returning Officer is like a person in charge of making sure the election runs smoothly in a particular area.

If the Electoral Commissioner makes a change after they have already sent the writ to the Clerk of the House of Representatives as required by section 185(1), they must send a new copy of the fixed writ to the Clerk. This new copy is then treated as the official one, just like the one they sent earlier as required by section 185(1).

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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=DLM310017.

Topics:

Government and voting > Elections

185: Endorsement and return of writ, or

"Signing and sending back the election results paper"

187: Disposal of ballot papers, rolls, etc, or

"What happens to voting papers after an election"

Part 6Elections
Return of writ

186Electoral Commission may correct writ

If the Electoral Commission is satisfied that the name of a member elected to represent an electoral district is not correctly recorded on the writ, an Electoral Commissioner may, on behalf of the Electoral Commission, before or after complying with the requirements of section 185(1), make any alterations to the writ necessary to ensure that the member's name is correctly recorded.
Before making a correction under subsection (1), the Electoral Commissioner must consult with the member concerned and with the Returning Officer.
If the Electoral Commissioner makes a correction under subsection (1) after complying with the requirements of section 185(1),—
the Electoral Commission must forward to the Clerk of the House of Representatives a copy of the writ as corrected; and
that copy is to be treated for all purposes as the copy forwarded to the Clerk of the House of Representatives under section 185(1).

Notes

Section 186: substituted, on 1 October 2010, by section 32(2)(a) of the Electoral (Administration) Amendment Act 2010 (2010 No 26).