List of advisory opinions given for 2014 election
Alex Harris made this Official Information request to Electoral Commission
The request was successful.
From: Alex Harris
Dear Electoral Commission,
Section 204I of the Electoral Act empowers the Electoral Commission to provide an advisory opinion on whether an advertisement constitutes an election advertisement. I would like to request the following information under the OIA:
* a list of all advisory opinions sought and given in the past six months.
I am aware that s204I(4) and s204I(6) require such advice to be kept confidential until the day after the return of the writ. However, the law only applies to the advice itself and any supporting material, not to the fact that a request for advice has been made or that advice has been given. If the Commission disagrees, then I am happy for a response to this request to be delayed until the day after the return of the writ (which is well within the statutory OIA timeframe anyway).
I would prefer to receive an electronic response. Queries about this request will be automatically forwarded to me by the fyi.org.nz website.
With regards to s12 of the OIA, I am an NZ citizen and in NZ.
Yours faithfully,
Alex Harris
From: Alice Parawa
Good morning Mark,
I am acknowledging receipt of your Official Information Act request,
regarding ‘List of advisory opinions given for 2014 election given in the
last six months’ received 29^th September 2014.
Under the Official Information Act, we have 20 working days for response.
You should receive a reply on/before the 28^th October.
Many thanks,
Alice | Electoral Commission | Te Kaitiaki Take Kōwhiri
PO Box 3220 | Level 10, 34 – 42 Manners Street | Wellington | 6140
Phone +64 4 495 0030| Fax +64 4 495 0031 | [1]http://www.elections.org.nz
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From: Natalie McNaught
Dear Alex
Thank you for your Official Information Act request for a list of all
advisory opinions sought and given in the past six months.
The Commission is currently in the process of compiling a table of
advisories issued for the 2014 General Election and I hope to be in a
position to provide you with this information in the near future. Could
you please confirm whether you also require a copy of the advisory
opinions issued by the Electoral Commission. If you require a copy of the
advisories can you please provide a postal address as we will need to send
you a copy of the material on a CD as the data is too large to send by
email.
Kind regards
Natalie McNaught | Senior Advisor Legal | Electoral Commission | Te
Kaitiaki Take Kōwhiri
PO Box 3220 | Level 10, 34-42 Manners Street | Wellington
Phone +64 4 806 3512 | Fax +64 4 495 0031 | [1]http://www.elections.org.nz
-------- Forwarded Message
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This is an OIA request done via the FYI website.
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References
Visible links
1. http://www.elections.org.nz/
2. mailto:[OIA #2057 email]
3. mailto:[Electoral Commission request email]
4. https://fyi.org.nz/help/officers
From: Alex Harris
Dear Natalie McNaught,
Thanks. I was just after the list, not the opinions themselves. The aim is to enable others to request specific opinions which interest them.
Though if you're compiling the information, have you considered putting it on the web? Proactive release would provide a valuable insight into how the Commission interprets the Electoral Act, and reduce potential future OIA requests.
Yours sincerely,
Alex Harris
From: Natalie McNaught
Dear Alex
Please find attached a table which lists all of the advisory opinions requested and issued by the Electoral Commission during 2014.
The Electoral Commission has had a statutory duty to provide advisory opinions since 1 January 2011. Since that date the Commission has issued over 1,000 advisory opinions relating to approximately 2,000 separate items of advertising. In view of the large number of advisory opinions the Commission does not intend to publish them on the elections.org website. The Commission is happy to provide copies of advisory opinions issued since 2011 on request.
Kind regards
Natalie McNaught | Senior Advisor Legal | Electoral Commission | Te Kaitiaki Take Kōwhiri
PO Box 3220 | Level 10, 34-42 Manners Street | Wellington
Phone +64 4 806 3512 | Fax +64 4 495 0031 | http://www.elections.org.nz
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