Electoral Commission finalises party and candidates for election

The Chief Electoral Office has released the nominations for the 2008 General Election, with 19 registered political parties and 682 candidates contesting the election.

Registered parties seeking the party vote

Six parties, RAM – Residents Action Movement, The Bill and Ben Party, Family Party, Kiwi Party, The New Zealand Pacific Party and The Workers Party are seeking the party vote for the first time.

The registered parties seeking the party vote are:

ACT New Zealand

Alliance

Aotearoa Legalise Cannabis Party

Democrats for Social Credit

Family Party

Green Party

Jim Anderton’s Progressive

Kiwi Party

Labour Party

Libertarianz

Māori Party

National Party

New Zealand First Party

New Zealand Pacific Party

RAM - Residents Action Movement

The Bill and Ben Party

The Republic of New Zealand Party

United Future

Workers Party

There were 19 registered political parties seeking the party vote in 2005.

Candidates

A total of 682 candidates (electorate and list) are standing in this year’s election. This compares with 739 candidates in the 2005 election.

160 candidates are on the party list only and 89 are standing as electorate candidates only. 36 electorate candidates are standing as independents or representing unregistered parties (only registered parties are eligible to contest the party vote).

The electorate with the most candidates is Wellington Central with 14, and the electorates with the lowest number of candidates are Hauraki-Waikato, Waiariki and Te Tai Hauāuru with two per electorate.

488 men and 194 women are standing in the 2008 General Election.

Number of list candidates and electorate candidates representing those seeking the party vote:

Party	Number of Candidates	List Candidates	Electorate Candidates
ACT New Zealand	73	61	59
Alliance	30	30	15
Aotearoa Legalise Cannabis Party	20	20	8
Democrats for Social Credit	31	31	14
Family Party	14	14	11
Green Party	68	67	60
Jim Anderton’s Progressive	27	27	26
Kiwi Party	37	25	36
Labour Party	84	77	70
Libertarianz	36	36	16
Māori Party	19	19	7
National Party	72	72	63
New Zealand First Party	22	22	22
New Zealand Pacific Party	14	14	8
RAM - Residents Action Movement	26	26	11
The Bill and Ben Party	2	2	0
The Republic of New Zealand Party	6	6	5
United Future	51	30	51
Workers Party	14	14	4