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Electoral Act 1993

Miscellaneous provisions

263B: Disclosure of personal information for enrolment purposes

You could also call this:

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

Illustration for Electoral Act 1993

The Electoral Commission can get some of your personal information from certain agencies. This is to help find people who can vote but have not signed up yet. The agencies can share your name, date of birth, address, and other details with the Electoral Commission.

Some of the agencies that can share your information are the department that looks after the Social Security Act 2018, the Registrar of Motor Vehicles, the New Zealand Transport Agency, and the Department of Internal Affairs. They can share this information to help the Electoral Commission update its records and make sure they are correct.

If the Electoral Commission gets your information, they can compare it with the information they already have about you. On or after 1 December 2020, information can only be shared under an information matching agreement or an approved information sharing agreement, as described in the Privacy Act 1993 and the Privacy Act 2020. The Registrar of Motor Vehicles has the same meaning as Registrar in section 233(1) of the Land Transport Act 1998.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM310479.

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Government and voting > ElectionsRights and equality > Privacy
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Part 9Miscellaneous provisions

263BDisclosure of personal information for enrolment purposes

  1. The purpose of this section is to facilitate the disclosure of information described in subsection (2) by a specified agency to the Electoral Commission only for the purposes of—

  2. identifying persons who are qualified to apply to register as an elector but who have not yet registered; and
    1. encouraging those persons identified to register as an elector; and
      1. updating and ensuring the accuracy of the particulars of persons whose names are on the roll.

        1. The information referred to in subsection (1) is the following information relating to any person of or over the age of 17 years:

        2. the person’s full name:
          1. the person’s date of birth:
            1. the person’s address of residence (if known):
              1. the person’s postal address (if known and if different from the address of residence in paragraph (c)):
                1. the person’s preferred honorific (if known):
                  1. the date at which the information in paragraphs (a) to (e) held by the agency was last provided to the agency.

                    1. For the purposes of this section, a specified agency means—

                    2. the department for the time being responsible for the administration of the Social Security Act 2018; and
                      1. the Registrar of Motor Vehicles; and
                        1. the New Zealand Transport Agency; and
                          1. the Department of Internal Affairs.

                            1. For the purposes of this section, any officer or employee or agent of a specified agency, authorised by the chief executive of that agency, may from time to time, at the request of the Electoral Commission, supply to the Electoral Commission any of the information described in subsection (2) held by that agency,—

                            2. in the case of the department for the time being responsible for the administration of the Social Security Act 2018, in relation to any—
                              1. beneficiary; or
                                1. student; or
                                  1. borrower (as that term is defined in section 4(1) of the Student Loan Scheme Act 2011):
                                  2. in the case of the Registrar of Motor Vehicles, in relation to motor vehicle registration:
                                    1. in the case of the New Zealand Transport Agency, in relation to driver licences:
                                      1. in the case of the Department of Internal Affairs, in relation to any persons—
                                        1. who obtain New Zealand citizenship under the Citizenship Act 1977; or
                                          1. by whom, or on whose behalf, an application is made under the Passports Act 1992 for the issue or renewal of a New Zealand passport.

                                          2. If, in relation to any person, information is supplied to the Electoral Commission under subsection (4), 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.

                                          3. On or after 1 December 2020, no information may be disclosed under this section except under—

                                          4. 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
                                            1. an approved information sharing agreement entered into under subpart 1 of Part 7 of the Privacy Act 2020.

                                              1. In this section, Registrar of Motor Vehicles has the same meaning as Registrar in section 233(1) of the Land Transport Act 1998.

                                              Notes
                                              • Section 263B: inserted, on , by section 97 of the Electoral Amendment Act 2002 (2002 No 1).
                                              • Section 263B(1): amended, on , by section 52(18)(h) of the Electoral (Administration) Amendment Act 2011 (2011 No 57).
                                              • Section 263B(3)(a): amended, on , by section 459 of the Social Security Act 2018 (2018 No 32).
                                              • Section 263B(3)(b): amended, on , by section 45 of the Electoral Amendment Act 2014 (2014 No 8).
                                              • Section 263B(3)(c): amended, on , by section 50(1) of the Land Transport Management Amendment Act 2008 (2008 No 47).
                                              • Section 263B(4): amended, on , by section 52(18)(h) of the Electoral (Administration) Amendment Act 2011 (2011 No 57).
                                              • Section 263B(4)(a): amended, on , by section 459 of the Social Security Act 2018 (2018 No 32).
                                              • Section 263B(4)(a)(iii): amended, on , by section 223 of the Student Loan Scheme Act 2011 (2011 No 62).
                                              • Section 263B(4)(b): amended, on , by section 45 of the Electoral Amendment Act 2014 (2014 No 8).
                                              • Section 263B(4)(c): amended, on , by section 50(1) of the Land Transport Management Amendment Act 2008 (2008 No 47).
                                              • Section 263B(4)(d): substituted, on , by section 27 of the Electoral (Administration) Amendment Act 2011 (2011 No 57).
                                              • Section 263B(5): amended, on , by section 52(18)(h) of the Electoral (Administration) Amendment Act 2011 (2011 No 57).
                                              • Section 263B(5A): inserted, on , by section 190 of the Privacy Act 2020 (2020 No 31).
                                              • Section 263B(6): inserted, on , by section 45 of the Electoral Amendment Act 2014 (2014 No 8).