Repealed act lingers on for Electoral Commission

The legacy of the Electoral Finance Act lingers on - more than eight months after the election the Electoral Commission is still churning out decisions on complaints about breaches.

The act, loathed by most political parties because of its bizarre provisions and confusing definitions of election advertising, was repealed in February when Parliament voted 112-9 to get rid of it.

But the commission still has to deal with complaints laid under its terms, many of them by political parties against other parties.

It has issued dozens of determinations, referring some of them to the police who then decide whether to take action. So far there have not been any prosecutions.

Six more came out yesterday, most of them dealing with the failure of small parties that did not win any seats to file adequate election expense returns.

The commission decided three parties contravened the act but the offences were "so inconsequential to the public interest" that they would not be referred to the police.

It said it would refer one case to the police - a video about National Party Asian candidates which appeared on YouTube.

The complaint was that the video was not included in National's election expenses return.

The commission said the video was not an election expense because it was not undertaken by or with the authority of the party secretary.

It contravened the act because it was produced without the party's authorisation but the commission did not determine who the promoter was or whether the breach was wilful.

- NZPA