Local Electoral Act 2001

Offences

128: Personation

You could also call this:

"Voting in someone else's name or voting more than once is called personation."

Illustration for Local Electoral Act 2001

You commit the offence of personation if you vote in someone else's name at an election or poll. You also commit this offence if you vote again after already voting at the same election or poll. If you try to return another voting document after already doing so, with the intention of casting an extra valid vote or cancelling a vote you already made, you commit this offence. If you are found guilty of personation, you could be imprisoned for up to 2 years. This is a serious offence that can have significant consequences. You should be aware of the rules around voting to avoid accidentally committing this offence. You can find more information about the laws related to personation in the Local Electoral Act 2001 and the Criminal Procedure Act 2011. These laws are in place to ensure the integrity of the electoral process. They help to prevent people from cheating or manipulating the system.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM94792.


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"Forcing someone to vote a certain way is against the law"


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129: Infringement of secrecy, or

"Keeping Voting Secrets"

Part 7Offences

128Personation

  1. Every person commits the offence of personation who, at any election or poll,—

  2. votes in the name of some other person (whether living or dead), or of a fictitious person:
    1. having voted, votes again at the same election or poll:
      1. having returned a voting document, applies for or returns another voting document with the intention of returning an additional valid voting document or invalidating a vote already cast at the same election or poll (whether or not any voting document he or she returns is valid).
        1. Every person who commits the offence of personation is liable on conviction to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 2 years.

        Compare
        • 1976 No 144 s 60
        • 1997 No 13 s 60
        Notes
        • Section 128(2): amended, on , by section 413 of the Criminal Procedure Act 2011 (2011 No 81).