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Electoral Act 1993

Corrupt and illegal practices - Corrupt practices

218: Undue influence

You could also call this:

"Forcing someone to vote a certain way or stopping them from voting freely"

Illustration for Electoral Act 1993

You can be guilty of a corrupt practice if you use undue influence. This means you try to force someone to vote for or against a particular candidate or party. You might use violence, threats, or other forms of pressure to get them to vote a certain way.

You are also using undue influence if you stop someone from voting freely. This can be by kidnapping them, using force, or tricking them in some way. If you do any of these things to make someone vote or not vote, you are committing the offence of undue influence.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM310403.

Topics:
Crime and justice > Criminal lawGovernment and voting > Elections
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Part 7Corrupt and illegal practices
Corrupt practices

218Undue influence

  1. Every person is guilty of a corrupt practice who commits the offence of undue influence.

  2. Every person commits the offence of undue influence who—

  3. directly or indirectly, by himself or herself or by any other person on his or her behalf, makes use of or threatens to make use of any force, violence, or restraint, or inflicts or threatens to inflict, by himself or herself or by any other person, any temporal or spiritual injury, damage, harm, or loss upon or against any person, in order to induce or compel that person to vote for or against a particular candidate or party or to vote or refrain from voting, or on account of that person having voted for or against a particular candidate or having voted or refrained from voting; or
    1. by abduction, duress, or any fraudulent device or contrivance, impedes or prevents the free exercise of the franchise of an elector, or thereby compels, induces, or prevails upon an elector either to vote or to refrain from voting.