Dear Mr Grainger,

Thank you for your Official Information Act request dated 30 October 2011
in which you request:

-       information and statistics the Electoral Commission holds on party
membership   numbers for all registered political parties since 1996:
including at 1996, 1999,       2001, 2005, 2008, and currently; and
-       for parties that have been de-registered in the period between
1996 and now, any        statistics the Commission held on membership
numbers at the time of
       de-registration.

The Electoral Commission does not hold information and statistics on party
membership for all registered political parties.  For this reason your
request is declined pursuant to section 18(g) of the Official Information
Act 1982.  You have the right, pursuant to section 28(3) of the Official
Information Act, to complain to an Ombudsman if you are not satisfied with
my response to your request.

Keeping a record of each registered party's membership is not a function
that the Electoral Commission is required to perform as part of its
responsibilities for establishing and maintaining a Register of Political
Parties for the purposes of administering parliamentary elections under
Part 4 of the Electoral Act 1993.

The Electoral Act requires registered parties to provide evidence that the
party has at least 500 current financial members who are eligible to enrol
as electors at the time of registration, however this evidence does not
indicate the total membership of a party. Most parties only submit
evidence of just over 500 members when seeking registration.  Of course a
party's membership may fluctuate after registration and party membership
may also include persons who are not 'financial members' or who are not
eligible to enrol as an elector.  Furthermore, although the party
secretary of a registered party is required to complete an annual
statutory declaration that the party continues to have at least 500
current financial members who are eligible to enrol, evidence of the
actual number of members is not included in the declaration.

Details regarding party membership may be requested from party
secretaries.  I have included a link to the register containing contact
details for all of the registered parties if you want to seek the
information from them
([1]http://www.elections.org.nz/elections/re...).

Yours sincerely

Kristina Temel
Electoral Commission

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