Plain language law

New Zealand law explained for everyone

Electoral Act 1993

Miscellaneous provisions

266A: Expenditure limits to be adjusted each year by Order in Council

You could also call this:

"The government adjusts election spending limits every year to keep up with price changes."

Illustration for Electoral Act 1993

The Governor-General must adjust some amounts every year by Order in Council. You need to know what these amounts are. They are in sections like section 204B(1)(d), section 205C, section 206C, and section 206V. The Governor-General makes this adjustment based on what the Minister recommends. The adjustment is made to reflect changes in the Consumers Price Index, which is like a measure of how much things cost. The first adjustment was made in 2011 and every year after that the amounts are adjusted on 1 July.

If the adjusted amount is not a whole number of hundred dollars, it gets rounded up to the next whole hundred dollars. This happens for some sections like section 204B(1)(d) and section 205C. For other sections like section 206C and section 206V, if the amount is not a whole number of thousand dollars, it gets rounded up to the next whole thousand dollars. When an amount is rounded up, the next year's adjustment is based on the original amount, not the rounded one.

Sometimes elections happen before 1 July, so the new adjusted amounts do not apply to those elections. In this section, CPI means the Consumers Price Index, which is published by Statistics New Zealand. An Order in Council is a type of secondary legislation, and you can find out more about it in Part 3 of the Legislation Act 2019.

This text is automatically generated. It might be out of date or be missing some parts. Find out more about how we do this.

This page was last updated on

View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM3491607.

Topics:
Government and voting > Elections
Previous

266: Validation of irregularities, or

"Fixing mistakes made under the Electoral Act 1993"

Next

267: Regulations, or

"Rules made by the Governor-General to help the Electoral Act 1993 work properly"

Part 9Miscellaneous provisions

266AExpenditure limits to be adjusted each year by Order in Council

  1. The Governor-General must, by Order in Council made on the recommendation of the Minister, in the manner provided in subsections (2) to (6), adjust the amounts specified in the following provisions:

  2. section 204B(1)(d) (which relates to the maximum amount of advertising expenses that may be incurred by an unregistered promoter):
    1. section 205C (which relates to the maximum amount of a candidate's election expenses):
      1. section 206C (which relates to the maximum amount of a party's election expenses):
        1. section 206V (which relates to the maximum amount of a registered promoter's election expenses).

          1. The first Order in Council must—

          2. come into force on 1 July 2011; and
            1. adjust the amount referred to in section 206C(1)(a) to reflect the movement between the CPI for the quarter ending 30 September 2010 and the CPI for the quarter ending 31 March 2011.

              1. Every subsequent Order in Council must—

              2. come into force on every following 1 July; and
                1. adjust the amounts referred to in subsection (1) to reflect the movement between the CPI for the quarter ending 31 March of the previous year and the CPI for the quarter ending 31 March of the current year.

                  1. If after adjustment in accordance with subsection (3)(b) any of the amounts specified in the following sections is not a whole number of hundred dollars, the adjusted amount must be rounded up to the next whole hundred dollars:

                  2. section 204B(1)(d):
                    1. section 205C(1)(a) and (b):
                      1. section 206C(1)(b) and (2).

                        1. If after adjustment in accordance with subsection (2)(b) or (3)(b) the amount specified in section 206C(1)(a) or 206V is not a whole number of thousand dollars, the adjusted amount must be rounded up to the next whole thousand dollars.

                        2. If an adjusted amount has been rounded up in accordance with subsection (4) or (5), the adjustment to that amount made the following year must be based on the adjusted amount as it was before it was rounded up.

                        3. If in any year a regulated period for a general election or a by-election commences before 1 July and ends on or after that date,—

                        4. the adjustments to the amounts referred to in subsection (1) made by the Order in Council that commences on 1 July of that year do not apply in respect of that election or by-election; and
                          1. the adjustments to the amounts referred to in subsection (1) made by the Order in Council of the previous year apply to that election or by-election.

                            1. In this section, CPI means the Consumers Price Index (all groups) published by Statistics New Zealand or, if that index ceases to be published, any measure certified by the Government Statistician as being equivalent to that index.

                            2. An order under this section is secondary legislation (see Part 3 of the Legislation Act 2019 for publication requirements).

                            Compare
                            Notes
                            • Section 266A: inserted, on , by section 34 of the Electoral (Finance Reform and Advance Voting) Amendment Act 2010 (2010 No 137).
                            • Section 266A(6A): inserted, on , by section 43 of the Electoral Amendment Act 2014 (2014 No 8).
                            • Section 266A(7): replaced, on , by section 107(1) of the Data and Statistics Act 2022 (2022 No 39).
                            • Section 266A(8): inserted, on , by section 3 of the Secondary Legislation Act 2021 (2021 No 7).