Referrals to Police
Two separate matters have been referred to Police relating to the 2023 General Election.
Election advertising
Stuff Limited were referred to Police on 21 November 2023 by the Electoral Commission over online election advertising.
The online advertising was published on Stuff’s homepage in September 2023 without a promoter statement. Under section 204F of the Electoral Act, an election advertisement must contain a promoter statement.
Corrupt Practices List
In a separate case, and unrelated to Stuff, the Commission has also referred three individuals to the Police for enrolling and voting while being on the Corrupt Practices List.
It is an offence under section 118 of the Electoral Act for a person to make a false statement in any application, certificate, or information supplied for the purposes of enrolment. It is also an offence under section 227 of the Electoral Act for a person to vote at an election while being on the Corrupt Practices List.
The list contains the names of people who have been disqualified from enrolling or voting for three years after being convicted of a corrupt practice associated with elections, for example, voting more than once or failing to file a candidate return.
As the alleged breaches are now with the Police, the Electoral Commission will not be commenting further.