15 July 2024
D Watson
By email to
: [FYI request #27043 email]
Dear D Watson
OFFICIAL INFORMATION ACT REQUEST 2024/47
On 14 June 2024 you made a request under the Official Information Act 1982 (the OIA) for the
following information:
I want to understand the governance of the general election. What information was used by the
executive to ensure the execution of a correct and proper election.
What reports or information was used to informed governance and management of the election
in the key months leading into the election and during the election itself i.e. reports, memo,
issues, risks, concerns, dependencies, wins, updates, papers, escalations, notes, briefings etc. I
assume such would be collated or is that a wild unrealistic assumption - that the people
responsible for managing the election, doing actual oversight and governance would have
received such material.
Or am I to take it from your previous responses that such simply does not exist. Something I find
incredulous.
Please list the OIA ground under which you are withholding the internal reporting you mention
perhaps this material contains mention of the widely reported issues encountered during the
election and you thus you have chosen to hide it.
Thank you for your message regarding my 6 June OIA response letter to you.
You clarify in your 14 June message that you’re interested in reports and information used to inform
governance and management of the election, leading up to and including the election period.
Some of your request is addressed by the attachments A01-A14 from our response to Mr Wilson,
which you have seen. This consisted of four Commission quarterly reports to the Minister of Justice
and 10 monthly reports written for internal Commission use, and they are attached for your
information.
We have attached two further quarterly reports to the Minister, covering July-September 2023 and
October-December 2023, which cover the election period and were produced after Mr Wilson’s OIA
response. There are no further internal monthly reports in the period you discuss, because our
internal monthly reporting process didn’t resume until January 2024.
Electoral Commission
Level 4, 34-42 Manners Street, PO Box 3220, Wellington 6140, New Zealand
Telephone +64 4 495 0030
www.vote.nz | www.elections.nz
I have attached risk reporting from the period July-October 2023 that was considered by the
Commission’s Board.
Please also see attached a series of reports from the Commission’s 2023 General Election
programme management office to the Commission Board, which will give an overview of the
operational management of election planning and management.
Attachment A26 is a cyber-security risk update that was considered by the Board at its 13 September
2023 meeting. The report contains some redactions, and we are withholding the five appendices
attached to the report. We are not able to share this information as disclosure of this information
would prejudice the Electoral Commission’s ability to prevent and detect cyber security threats and
may also result in exposure of the information to those who may use this information for improper
gain. This gain or advantage could damage trust and confidence in the electoral system. Therefore,
this part of your request is declined under section 6(c) of the Act on the ground that making this
information available would be likely to prejudice the maintenance of the law, and under section
9(2)(k) of the Act on the ground that withholding this information is necessary to prevent the
disclosure or use of official information for improper gain or improper advantage.
We have only included material within documents that are in scope of your request, we have
redacted parts that are out of scope. Some contact details, such as phone numbers, email addresses
and some names have been withheld under section 9(2)(a) of the OIA which relates to the privacy of
natural persons.
A redaction has been made under section 9(2)(g)(i), where withholding the information is necessary
to maintain the effective conduct of public affairs through the free and frank expression of opinions
by or between or to Ministers of the Crown or members of an organisation or officers and
employees of any public service agency or organisation in the course of their duty.
A redaction has also been made under section 9(2)(f)(iv), where withholding the information is
necessary to maintain the constitutional conventions for the time being which protect the
confidentiality of advice tendered by Ministers of the Crown and officials.
Further redactions have been made under section 9(2)(ba)(ii), where information is protected which
is subject to an obligation of confidence or which any person has been or could be compelled to
provide under the authority of any enactment, where the making available of the information would
be likely otherwise to damage the public interest.
In each case where redactions have been made, consideration has been given to and I am satisfied
that the reasons for withholding of the information are not outweighed by other considerations
which render it desirable in the public interest to make that information available.
Redactions have been labelled on each attachment.
Attachments
Ref Description
A01 Quarterly report Jul-Sept 2022
Electoral Commission
Level 4, 34-42 Manners Street, PO Box 3220, Wellington 6140, New Zealand
Telephone +64 4 495 0030
www.vote.nz | www.elections.nz
A02 Quarterly report Oct-Dec 2022
A03 Quarterly report Jan-Mar 2023
A04 Quarterly report Apr-Jun 2023
A05 Quarterly report Jul-Sept 2023
A06 Quarterly report Oct-Dec 2023
A07 Monthly reports July 2022
A08 Monthly reports August 2022
A09 Monthly reports Sept 2022
A10 Monthly reports Oct 2022
A11 Monthly reports Jan 2023
A12 Monthly reports Feb 2023
A13 Monthly reports Mar 2023
A14 Monthly reports Apr 2023
A15 Monthly reports May 2023
A16 Monthly reports Jun 2023
A17 Monthly reports July 2023
A18 Enterprise risk update July 2023
A19 Risk deep dive (attachment to A18)
A20 Enterprise risk update Aug 2023
A21 Enterprise risk deep dives
(Māori engagement & cyclone-affected areas)
A22 Risk profile July 2023
A23 Leadership & Board risk profile (attachment to A22)
A24 Enterprise risk deep dive: counter disinformation risk
A25 Mis- and disinformation (attachment to A24)
A26 Cyber-security risk update
A27 GE23 Programme Status Report Dec 2022-Feb 2023
A28 GE23 Programme Status Report Feb-Mar 2023
A29 GE23 Programme Status Report Mar 2023
A30 GE23 Programme Status Report Apr-May 2023
A31 GE23 Programme Status Report July 2023
A32 GE23 Programme Status Report Aug 2023
A33 GE23 Programme Status Report Sept 2023
In the interests of transparency, we release responses to Official Information Act requests every 3
months. We will publish this response with your personal details redacted.
You have the right under section 28(3) of the Act to make a complaint to the Ombudsman if you are
not satisfied with the response to your request. Information about how to do this is available at
www.ombudsman.parliament.nz or by phoning 0800 802 602.
Yours sincerely
Leigh Deuchars
Deputy Chief Executive, Strategy, Governance & Development
Electoral Commission
Level 4, 34-42 Manners Street, PO Box 3220, Wellington 6140, New Zealand
Telephone +64 4 495 0030
www.vote.nz | www.elections.nz
