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Parliament Bill

Salaries, allowances, expenses, and services for members and others - Purposes and interpretation - Interpretation

66: Meaning of eligible candidate

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"Who can be an eligible candidate in an election"

Illustration for Parliament Bill

You are looking at a proposed law about who is an eligible candidate. This law applies to people running in elections. It says when someone is an eligible candidate. You are an eligible candidate if you are a constituency candidate at a general election and you are either a vacating member or the leading candidate. The law also applies to list candidates at a general election who are either a vacating member or a successful list candidate. It explains what a leading constituency candidate and a successful list candidate are. The law also talks about by-elections. You are an eligible candidate if you are a constituency candidate at a by-election and you were the former member or the leading candidate. The law says when you start and stop being an eligible candidate, and it refers to the Electoral Act 1993 for some of these dates. Some words have special meanings in this law, like 'leading constituency candidate', 'preliminary count', and 'successful list candidate'. These words are defined in the law to help you understand what they mean. For example, a leading constituency candidate is the person who got the most votes in the preliminary count. A preliminary count is when the votes are counted before the official result is announced, and it is done under section 174 of the Electoral Act 1993. A successful list candidate is someone who would be elected if the preliminary count results were the same as the official count results, according to section 193(5) of the Electoral Act 1993.

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View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=LMS923013.

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Government and voting > Elections
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Part 4Salaries, allowances, expenses, and services for members and others
Purposes and interpretation: Interpretation

66Meaning of eligible candidate

  1. Subsection (2) applies to a constituency candidate at a general election who is—

  2. a vacating member; or
    1. not a vacating member and is the leading constituency candidate.

      1. The person is an eligible candidate between the close of polling day and the day on which the writ for the election is returned under section 185 of the Electoral Act 1993.

      2. Subsection (4) applies to a list candidate at a general election who is—

      3. a vacating member; or
        1. not a vacating member and is a successful list candidate.

          1. The person is an eligible candidate between the close of the polling day and the day on which, under section 193(5) of the Electoral Act 1993, the Electoral Commission declares candidates to be elected in the election.

          2. Subsection (6) applies to a constituency candidate at a by-election—

          3. who was formerly the member and whose vacation of their seat caused the by-election to be required; or
            1. who is—
              1. neither a member nor was formerly the member whose vacation of their seat caused the by-election to be required; and
                1. the leading constituency candidate.

                2. The person is an eligible candidate between the close of polling day and the day on which the writ for the by-election is returned under section 185 of the Electoral Act 1993.

                3. In this section,—

                  leading constituency candidate means the constituency candidate at a general election or a by-election who the preliminary count indicates—

                  1. received more votes than any other candidate for the seat; or
                    1. is one of 2 or more candidates who received a number of votes that is—
                      1. equal; and
                        1. greater than the number of votes received by any other candidate for the seat

                        preliminary count means the results of the preliminary count of votes conducted under section 174 of the Electoral Act 1993, if those results are made available by the Electoral Commission during the period starting on polling day and ending on—

                        1. the day before the day on which the writ for the election is returned under section 185 of the Electoral Act 1993, in the case of a constituency candidate; or
                          1. the day before the day on which, under section 193(5) of the Electoral Act 1993, the Electoral Commission declares candidates to be elected in the election, in the case of a list candidate

                            successful list candidate means a list candidate who, if the results of the official count were the same as the preliminary count, would be declared by the Electoral Commission to be an elected candidate under section 193(5) of the Electoral Act 1993.