Coalition For Open Government, New Zealand

The second important aspect of ensuring we have electoral rules that politicians feel compelled to abide is serious penalties for breaches of those rules.

The current penalties are laughable; the Government’s proposed increases aren’t much better – what use is a new $40,000 fine for party secretaries (up from $20,000) when it’s introduced in the same law that gives some parties $3m+ each electoral cycle?

Breaches of the serious electoral laws need to carry penalties commensurate with the seriousness of the offences – it is ludicrous that a candidate found destroying ballot papers cast for their opponent faces at most 6 months’ imprisonment, and worse that a party deliberately overspending it’s spending cap can’t even be charged (and in individual in that party convicted of that corrupt practice faces at most a $4000 fine and 1 year in prison).

Politicians and others who deliberately flout the rules we have in place to protect our elections from corruption should face stiff penalties – penalties that, with strict enforcement, will act as a real deterrent to anyone considering breaching the law.

And COG has a bunch of plans to make this stronger.

First – parties as well as individuals should face criminal sanction for breaching the law – companies can be charged with numerous offences under our law, and there is no good reason why political parties should be immune from prosecution. Political parties play a massive role in our electoral system and if a party breaches a rule (for example, by breaching its spending cap, like Labour at the last election, or its broadcasting cap, like National at the last election) then the party should be liable for a fine in addition to those individuals who are at fault.

The penalties need to go up a lot – not maximum fines of $40,000 like the Government has proposed, but for corrupt practices, fines for political parties and corporations of $1,000,000. And for individuals of up to 7 years’ imprisonment and/or fines of $100,000.

You can get 7 years’ prison for stealing a car (or indeed anything over $1000) and stealing an election is at least as serious. 7 years is also the penalty for corruption as an MP, fraud/deception, and perjury – offences analogous to many of the crimes the Electoral Act deems “corrupt practices”.

Penalties for illegal practices should also increase – we think $100,000 for political parties and corporations, and $10,000 and/or 3 months’ prison for individuals. That said, the Government’s presumptive plan to have no prison term for illegal practices, but to give authorities a special search warrant power is a reasonable one (police can usually only get search warrants when a crime can be punished by imprisonment).

The odd distinction between penalties for breaches of the Broadcasting Act and the Electoral Act should go as well – it makes zero sense that if Helen Clark could have been held responsible for a deliberate breach of Labour’s election expense cap she would have lost her seat, been unable to stand (or even vote) in the next election, and faced prison (and a $4000 fine), but if Don Brash could have been held responsible for a deliberate flouting of National’s broadcast spending cap that he’d have faced a $100,000 fine, but no prison and no loss of seat.

Basically, our view can be summed up as:

“Real penalties for real crimes”

No-one should ever again get away with the crimes against democracy that the police let slide at the last election.

Graeme Edgeler
Coalition for Open Government