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Referendums Framework Bill

Referendum advertising - General rules for referendum advertisements

44: Persons who may promote referendum advertisements

You could also call this:

"Who can pay for ads about referendum voting"

Illustration for Referendums Framework Bill

You can promote a referendum advertisement if you are a registered promoter. You can also promote a referendum advertisement if you are not a registered promoter, but you must not spend more than a certain amount of money on referendum advertisements during the regulated period. This amount is specified in section 204B(1)(d) of the 1993 Act, which talks about the maximum expenses an unregistered promoter can incur for election advertisements.

You need to follow these rules to promote referendum advertisements. If you are a registered promoter, you can promote referendum advertisements. If you are not a registered promoter, you must keep your expenses under the specified amount.

You should look at section 204B(1)(d) of the 1993 Act to find out the exact amount you can spend. This will help you understand how much you can spend on referendum advertisements. You can then promote referendum advertisements according to these rules.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=LMS1028707.

This page was last updated on 25 August 2025 — View changes

Topics:

Government and voting > Elections

43: Electoral Commission to publish details of regulated period, or

"Electoral Commission must share details about the regulated period for elections and referendums."

45: Maximum amount of registered promoter's total referendum expenses, or

"How much a registered promoter can spend on referendum ads"

Part 3Referendum advertising
General rules for referendum advertisements

44Persons who may promote referendum advertisements

A person is entitled to promote a referendum advertisement if the person—
is a registered promoter; or
is an unregistered promoter who, in relation to referendum advertisements published during the regulated period, does not incur referendum expenses exceeding the amount specified in section 204B(1)(d) of the 1993 Act (which relates to the maximum election expenses that an unregistered promoter may incur under the 1993 Act in relation to election advertisements published during the regulated period).