12 March 2021
45 Pipitea Street, Thorndon, Wel ington 6011
PO Box 805, Wel ington 6140
Phone +64 4 495 7200
Ryan
dia.govt.nz
fyi-request-14698-
[email address]
Tēnā koe Ryan
Your Official Information Act request OIA 20/21-0450
Thank you for your email received 17 February 2021 for the fol owing under the Official
Information Act 1982 (the Act):
1) Any and all approaches and proposals from or to Smartmatic and or it's third party
affiliates or contractors which include Dominion & all namesake affiliates.
2) Any and all approaches and or proposals from or to Smartmatic held by the
Department of Internal Affairs in relation to the Electoral Commission or Catalyst
Election Systems used in NZ since 2003 or third party affiliates in conjunction with
Election systems utilised in both general & local elections
3) Please provide a full breakdown of all financial interests, both national and
international held by the department of internal affairs in col aboration with the
fol owing campaigns, including but not limited to, government and affiliates,
corporate sponsors, individuals, not for profit groups, companies, politically affiliated
organisations and or academics that added meaningful contribution by way of
material input and or donation;
3.1) Vote local NZ
3.2) On the fence
3.3) Generation Zero
4) Please provide information on any other campaigns authored or created by
Democracy and Design that are documented within department of internal affairs in
relation to general and local government elections including all associates and
complete with the same corresponding information as requested herein.
Regarding point one of the request, there are six documents that fal within scope. These
relate to the work around the online voting trial which was cancelled in 2019. This work was
managed by a working group of nine councils. As part of the tender process to select an
online voting system provider, Smartmatic and other providers submitted Requests for
Information (RFI).
Once Smartmatic was given the tender to deliver the trial, it was in contact with the
Department so that the Department could better understand its systems. This would have
informed the Department’s work on regulations to accommodate online voting.
We are releasing five documents to you. These include four emails between the Department
and Smartmatic, and the presentation Smartmatic gave at its meeting with the Department
about its systems.
We are withholding Smartmatic’s RFI in full under section 9(2)(b)(ii) of the Official
Information Act 1982 (the Act), to protect information where the making available of the
information would be likely unreasonably to prejudice the commercial position of the person
who supplied or who is the subject of the information
Regarding point three of the request, there are no records of financial interests held by the
Department in relation to Vote Local NZ, On the Fence, and Generation Zero.
Regarding point four of the request, the Department has no responsibilities in relation to the
legislation for, or administration of, general elections.
As is required by section 9(1) of the Act, I have considered whether the grounds for
withholding information is outweighed by other considerations which would make it
desirable, in the public interest, to make that information available. In this instance, I do not
consider that to be the case.
You have the right, under section 28(3) of the Act, to seek an investigation and review of this
decision by the Office of the Ombudsman. The postal address of the Office of the
Ombudsman is PO Box 10152, Wel ington. Alternatively, you can phone 0800 802 602 or
email [email address].
Nāku noa, nā
Anita Balakrishnan
Tumuaki / Director, Ministerial, Monitoring, and Capability Group
Page 3 of 3
Appendix A Documents for OIA request
F = release in full
P = partially withhold
W = withhold in full
# Name of document
Document date
Release of withhold Withholding grounds
1. Smartmatic RFI
15 November 2017
W
9(2)(b)(ii)
2. Email: RE: Talking the Department of Internal Affairs
29 November 2018
P
9(2)(a)
3. Smartmatic presentation: Online voting trial for 2019 local authority elections
29 November 2018
F
4. Email: Re: Online voting system - authentication
30 November 2018
P
9(2)(a)
3:51am
5. Email: Re: Online voting system - authentication
30 November 2018
P
9(2)(a)
8:57am
6. Email: RE: Meeting today
7 December 2018
P
9(2)(a)
Coversheet page 3 of 3
Document Outline
