Electoral Act 1993

Miscellaneous provisions

263A: Disclosure of immigration information for matching purposes

You could also call this:

"Checking if you can vote by sharing immigration information"

The government has a law to help make sure people who are not allowed to vote do not get to vote. You might be wondering how they do this. They share information between departments to check if someone is allowed to vote.

When you apply to vote, the Electoral Commission checks your details. They want to make sure you are allowed to be in New Zealand and that you are who you say you are. They do this by looking at information from the department that deals with immigration, which is responsible for administering the Immigration Act 2009.

If the Electoral Commission finds out that you are not allowed to be in New Zealand, or that you are only allowed to be in New Zealand for a short time, they will not let you vote. They follow a special process to make sure you do not get to vote, which is explained in section 87 or section 96.

The government can only share this information in certain ways, like under an information matching agreement, which is explained in Part 10 of the Privacy Act 1993, or an approved information sharing agreement, which is explained in subpart 1 of Part 7 of the Privacy Act 2020. This helps keep your information safe. They have to follow these rules from 1 December 2020.

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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=DLM310476.

Topics:

Government and voting > ElectionsImmigration and citizenship > Border controlRights and equality > Privacy

263: Service of notices, or

"How to give someone official notice, like handing or mailing it to them"

263B: Disclosure of personal information for enrolment purposes, or

"How the government shares your personal info to help you enrol to vote"

Part 9Miscellaneous provisions

263ADisclosure of immigration information for matching purposes

In this section,—
immigration information, in relation to any person, means—
1. information concerning—
  1. any person who the chief executive of the responsible department believes is unlawfully in New Zealand; or
  2. any person who is lawfully in New Zealand but only by virtue of being the holder of a temporary entry class visa of whatever type; and
2. information that, in relation to any person described in paragraph (a)(i) or (ii), is as follows:
  1. the person’s full name:
  2. any aliases known to be used by that person:
  3. the person’s date of birth:
  4. the person’s address (if known):
  5. the expiry date of any visa held by the person
responsible department means the department of State that is, with the authority of the Prime Minister, responsible for the administration of the Immigration Act 2009.
The purpose of this section is to facilitate the disclosure of information from the responsible department to the Electoral Commission for the purposes of—
verifying, for the purposes of this Act, that any person who is, or has applied to be, registered as an elector of an electoral district is qualified to be registered as an elector of that electoral district:
verifying that a person who is, or has applied to be, registered as an elector is a person who the chief executive of the responsible department believes to be either—
1. a person who is unlawfully in New Zealand; or
2. a person who is lawfully in New Zealand but only by virtue of being the holder of a temporary entry class visa of whatever type.

For the purposes of this section, any officer or employee or agent of the responsible department authorised in that behalf by the chief executive of that department may, at the request of the Electoral Commission, supply to the Electoral Commission any immigration information held by that department.
If, in relation to any person, immigration information is supplied to the Electoral Commission pursuant to subsection (3), the Electoral Commission may cause a comparison of that information to be made with any information that is held by the Electoral Commission and that relates to that person.
Subsection (6) applies in respect of a person if the result of a comparison carried out under subsection (4) indicates that the person has applied to be (but is not yet) registered as an elector, or is on the electoral roll, and is—
a person who the chief executive of the responsible department believes is unlawfully in New Zealand; or
a person who is lawfully in New Zealand, but only by virtue of being the holder of a temporary entry class visa of whatever type.

If this subsection applies in respect of a person, the Electoral Commission must,—
if the person has applied to be (but is not yet) registered as an elector for the district, follow the procedure specified in section 87; or
if the person is registered as an elector for the district and the name of the person is on the roll for the district, object under section 96 to the name of that person being on the roll for the district.

On or after 1 December 2020, no information may be disclosed under this section except under—
an information matching agreement entered into under Part 10 of the Privacy Act 1993 and continued by clause 11 of Schedule 1 of the Privacy Act 2020; or
an approved information sharing agreement entered into under subpart 1 of Part 7 of the Privacy Act 2020.

Notes

Section 263A: substituted, at 2 am on 29 November 2010, by section 406(1) of the Immigration Act 2009 (2009 No 51).
Section 263A(2): amended, on 1 July 2012, by section 52(18)(g) of the Electoral (Administration) Amendment Act 2011 (2011 No 57).
Section 263A(2)(a): amended, on 17 August 2011, by section 26(1) of the Electoral (Administration) Amendment Act 2011 (2011 No 57).
Section 263A(2)(b): amended, on 17 August 2011, by section 26(2) of the Electoral (Administration) Amendment Act 2011 (2011 No 57).
Section 263A(3): amended, on 1 July 2012, by section 52(18)(g) of the Electoral (Administration) Amendment Act 2011 (2011 No 57).
Section 263A(4): amended, on 1 July 2012, by section 52(18)(g) of the Electoral (Administration) Amendment Act 2011 (2011 No 57).
Section 263A(5): replaced, on 21 March 2017, by section 109 of the Electoral Amendment Act 2017 (2017 No 9).
Section 263A(6): replaced, on 21 March 2017, by section 109 of the Electoral Amendment Act 2017 (2017 No 9).
Section 263A(7): inserted, on 1 December 2020, by section 190 of the Privacy Act 2020 (2020 No 31).