Candidates nomination for election opens, Governor-General gives green light for election

The Governor-General, Her Excellency The Rt Hon Dame Patsy Reddy, has given the go ahead for this year’s General Election to be held.

Dame Patsy has signed the writ directing the Electoral Commission to conduct the General Election on 23 September 2017.  This is the formal authority to run the election and enables candidate nominations to open tomorrow on August 24.

The writ was handed over to the Board of the Electoral Commission at Government House in Wellington this morning.

“The issue of the writ is a key constitutional step in the election process.  It sets out the dates for candidate nominations to close, election day, and the date the writ must be returned showing the successful electoral candidates,” Chief Electoral Officer, Alicia Wright says. 

Under the Electoral Act, the writ must be issued within seven days of the dissolution of Parliament. 

The Electoral Commission must return the writ with the names of the successful electorate candidates to the Clerk of the House of Representatives within 50 days of its issue, by 12 October, if no application for a recount is received.

Candidate nominations close at:

• 12 noon on Monday, August 28 for bulk nominations of electorate candidates by registered political parties direct to the Electoral Commission.
• 12 noon on Monday, August 28for party list candidates by registered political parties direct to the Electoral Commission.
• 12 noon on Tuesday, August 29, for individual nominations to the Returning Officer for the electorate.

A full list of parties and candidates is expected to be publicly available from www.elections.org.nz by 2 p.m., Wednesday, August  30, 2017.

Other key events triggered by the issuing of the writ are:

• The Electoral Rolls close for printing, and all voters enrolled after this date cast special declaration votes.
• Candidate and party television and radio advertising may start.