Currently New Zealand electoral finance law has a 90-day window where there are restrictions on how much money can be sepnt by candidates and parties. Money spent outside this window does not count, unless the benefit of it carries over into the 90-day period (for example, rent for a billboard that is displayed both before and after the 90-day period starts), in which case the cost is included proportionally.video 3gp free d500

The Prime Minister is now complaining about some of National's campaign that was outside this 90-day window:video 3gp free d500

The problem faced by all non-government parties at present is that they generally do not know when the election will be until after the 90-day period has already started. The Prime Minister gets to announce the date almost whenever they like. Consequently, the government can plan their campaign properly, knowing exactly when they can spend money. However, the opposition has to guess.

Before the last election, there was a lot of speculation about Labour going to the polls a few months early. National had to start campaigning early as there was a realistic chance of an early date. If they didn't, they might have found that they were suddenly two months out from the election when Clark got around to announcing the date.video 3gp free d500

If Clark wants to limit campaigning before the 90-day period prior to the election, she needs to announce the election even earlier - probably four months out.video 3gp free d500

Posted by Dave Bryant at 9:05 AM | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0) video 3gp free d500