With the 2019 local authority elections approaching, the New Zealand Law Society has updated its Practice Briefing on the confidential unpublished electoral roll.

Section 82 of the Electoral Act 1993 requires anyone who is qualified to be registered as an elector to register. Details of electors are compiled to create rolls for each electoral district. Section 106 requires the electoral rolls to show the names, residences and occupations of all enrolled electors and under section 110 copies of the rolls must be kept for inspection at the Office of the Registrar of Electors.

Section 115 allows the Electoral Commission to direct that the name and particulars of a person not be published or available for inspection “where the Electoral Commission is satisfied, on the application of any person, that the publication of that person’s name would be prejudicial to the personal safety of that person or his or her family”.

Details of such a person are still recorded, but on what the Commission refers to as the “confidential unpublished roll”.

The unpublished roll is confidential and it can only be viewed by the Registrar of Electors for the electorate the person is enrolled in.

The Practice Briefing provides information on how applications can be made, how long names stay on the roll and how someone on the roll can vote.