Breakdown of votes in 2015 flag referendum

Adele Redmond made this Official Information request to Electoral Commission

Electoral Commission did not have the information requested.

From: Adele Redmond

Dear Electoral Commission,

I would like to request data relating to all votes cast in the 2015 New Zealand flag referendum. I would like a breakdown of the votes cast in each region of the country. I would like please:

* The total number of eligible voters in each region.
* A breakdown of the total number of votes received from each region.
* The status of these votes (ie: incomplete, invalid etc)
* The number of votes each flag design received in each region.

Yours faithfully,
Adele Redmond.

Link to this

Laydan Mortensen left an annotation ()

The turnout by electorate is available at
http://electionresults.govt.nz/2015_flag...

Link to this

From: Kristina Temel

Dear Ms Redmond,

 

Thank you for your e-mail of 12 December 2015 requesting under the
Official Information Act 1982 (‘the Act’) a breakdown of all votes cast in
the 2015 New Zealand flag referendum in each region of the country,
specifically:

 

·         The total number of eligible voters in each region.

·         A breakdown of the total number of votes received from each
region.

·         The status of these votes (ie: incomplete, invalid etc)

·         The number of votes each flag design received in each region.

 

By region I presume you mean by electorate.  That is the only information
that we hold. 

 

The total number of eligible voters in each electorate and the total votes
received is available in the turnout by electorate report which is
available here
[1]http://www.electionresults.govt.nz/2015_...

 

The status of the votes as either valid or invalid can be seen in the
table.  Total Invalid Votes can be calculated by subtracting Total Valid
Votes from Total Votes Received. 

 

Further status breakdowns by electorate (for example informal votes) and
number of votes each flag design received by electorate is not available. 
In a preferential vote, the calculation of the result has to be done at a
nationwide level and therefore no breakdown by electorate is available
from the referendum vote processing system. 

 

For this reason this aspect of your request is declined under section
18(e) of the Act on the basis that the information is not available. 

 

You have the right under section 28(3) of the Act to complain to the Ombudsmen if you are not satisfied with the response to your request.

 

 

Yours sincerely

 

Kristina Temel

Electoral Commission

 

 

 

**************************************************************************
CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This e-mail message and attachments do not
necessarily reflect the views of the New Zealand Electoral Commission and
may contain information that is confidential and may be subject to legal
privilege. If you are not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified
that you must not use, disseminate, distribute or copy this e-mail message
or its attachments. If you received this message in error, please notify
the Electoral Commission by telephone (call collect: 00-64-4-495-0030) or
return the original message to us by e-mail, and destroy any copies. Thank
you.
**************************************************************************

References

Visible links
1. http://www.electionresults.govt.nz/2015_...

hide quoted sections

Link to this

From: Adele Redmond

Dear Kristina Temel,

Thank you for your reply. I understand it is a preferential vote, but I would have thought the votes collected from each electorate would have been tallied separately of other electorates. Is there a way to know the overall preferred flag design of an electorate based on preferential voting?

Yours sincerely,

Adele Redmond

Link to this

From: Kristina Temel

I am out of the office returning on Tuesday 5 January 2016. 

 

In my absence please contact Dean Shirley ([email address])

 

**************************************************************************
CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This e-mail message and attachments do not
necessarily reflect the views of the New Zealand Electoral Commission and
may contain information that is confidential and may be subject to legal
privilege. If you are not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified
that you must not use, disseminate, distribute or copy this e-mail message
or its attachments. If you received this message in error, please notify
the Electoral Commission by telephone (call collect: 00-64-4-495-0030) or
return the original message to us by e-mail, and destroy any copies. Thank
you.
**************************************************************************

hide quoted sections

Link to this

From: Kristina Temel

Dear Ms Redmond,

Thank you for your further e-mail. No, there is no way of knowing the preferential vote result for each individual electorate.

Yours sincerely

Kristina Temel
Electoral Commission

-----Original Message-----
From: Adele Redmond [mailto:[FOI #3467 email]]
Sent: Monday, 21 December 2015 6:06 p.m.
To: Kristina Temel
Subject: Re: Official Information Act request

Dear Kristina Temel,

Thank you for your reply. I understand it is a preferential vote, but I would have thought the votes collected from each electorate would have been tallied separately of other electorates. Is there a way to know the overall preferred flag design of an electorate based on preferential voting?

Yours sincerely,

Adele Redmond

-----Original Message-----

Dear Ms Redmond,

Thank you for your e-mail of 12 December 2015 requesting under the Official Information Act 1982 (‘the Act’) a breakdown of all votes cast in the 2015 New Zealand flag referendum in each region of the country,
specifically:

· The total number of eligible voters in each region.

· A breakdown of the total number of votes received from each region.

· The status of these votes (ie: incomplete, invalid etc)

· The number of votes each flag design received in each region.

By region I presume you mean by electorate. That is the only information that we hold.

The total number of eligible voters in each electorate and the total votes received is available in the turnout by electorate report which is available here [1]http://www.electionresults.govt.nz/2015_...

The status of the votes as either valid or invalid can be seen in the table. Total Invalid Votes can be calculated by subtracting Total Valid Votes from Total Votes Received.

Further status breakdowns by electorate (for example informal votes) and number of votes each flag design received by electorate is not available. In a preferential vote, the calculation of the result has to be done at a nationwide level and therefore no breakdown by electorate is available from the referendum vote processing system.

For this reason this aspect of your request is declined under section
18(e) of the Act on the basis that the information is not available.

You have the right under section 28(3) of the Act to complain to the Ombudsmen if you are not satisfied with the response to your request.

Yours sincerely

Kristina Temel

Electoral Commission

References

Visible links
1. http://www.electionresults.govt.nz/2015_...

-------------------------------------------------------------------
Please use this email address for all replies to this request:
[FOI #3467 email]

Disclaimer: This message and any reply that you make will be published on the internet. Our privacy and copyright policies:
https://fyi.org.nz/help/officers

If you find this service useful as an OIA officer, please ask your web manager to link to us from your organisation's OIA page.

-------------------------------------------------------------------
************************************************************************** CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This e-mail message and attachments do not necessarily reflect the views of the New Zealand Electoral Commission and may contain information that is confidential and may be subject to legal privilege. If you are not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that you must not use, disseminate, distribute or copy this e-mail message or its attachments. If you received this message in error, please notify the Electoral Commission by telephone (call collect: 00-64-4-495-0030) or return the original message to us by e-mail, and destroy any copies. Thank you. **************************************************************************

hide quoted sections

Link to this

Things to do with this request

Anyone:
Electoral Commission only: