Election 2026: How does campaign advertising work, and what are the rules?

Source: Radio New Zealand

Explainer – The big flood of election adverts and billboards won’t start until closer to November, but the race to influence hearts and minds begins now.

There are many rules regulating disclosure, campaign spending and the timing of certain election advertisements.

There are still more than nine months before we vote on 7 November, which means the candidates and parties have plenty of time to pitch for your vote.

“The lengthy time period is advantageous for parties with more money to spend as they can effectively campaign for the whole year,” University of Otago professor of law Andrew Geddis said. “Based on recent donation returns, that’s National and ACT in particular.”

Here are the basic rules around political advertisements and what you can and can’t do.

Can people legally advertise before the election is even near?

Absolutely, although you won’t generally see election advertisements everywhere until closer to November.

“There is no restriction on when people can publish election advertisements, other than Election Day before 7pm,” the Electoral Commission legal and policy manager Kristina Temel said.

This can include online advertisements or print media.

However, you can’t put election advertisements on TV or radio until the official election regulated period starts.

Wait, what does that regulated period mean?

It’s when we start counting how much is being spent, for one thing. The regulated election period runs in the three months before Election Day – this year, from 7 August to 6 November.

Once that period begins, a bunch of strict rules around election spending kick in.

Electorate candidates are only allowed to spend up to $36,000 during the regulated period. This includes any advertising by someone else that is approved by the candidate.

Registered political parties can spend up to $1,503,000 if they contest the party vote plus $36,000 for each electorate candidate for the party. Registered third party promoters can spend up to $424,000 while unregistered third party promoters can spend up to $17,000.

Temel said that there are still some requirements about how campaign advertising is conducted outside the regulatory period.

“The regulated period is relevant for election expenditure limits, but both before, during and after the regulated period, obligations regarding promoter statements and written authorisation to publish election advertisements apply.”

And of course, all election advertising has to be taken down by midnight on 6 November, including billboards and online ads, and breaches can result in fines.

What counts as an advertisement?

They can be in the humble newspaper, on television, leaflets dropped in your mailbox or ads seen while scrolling online, or they can be big old billboards you see every time you drive to the supermarket.

The Electoral Commission’s candidate handbook defines them as “an advertisement that may reasonably be regarded as encouraging or persuading voters to vote, or not vote, for a candidate or party”, or alternatively, “a type of candidate or party the advertisement describes by referencing views they do or don’t hold”.

What that all means is that it’s anything that is trying to persuade you to vote a certain way.

Editorial content – news items such as RNZ reporting Christopher Luxon’s latest announcement, for example – doesn’t count as an advertisement.

Individuals posting their political views online doesn’t count, unless it’s paid content or someone claiming to speak for a political party, for example making a post saying they speak for the Green Party or New Zealand First or others.

An MP’s contact details also doesn’t count as election advertising, nor do columns or opinion pieces solicited or published by media with no payment involved.

There are no limitations on where candidates or advocacy groups can buy advertisements, or how often they can buy them, other than the spending limits during that designated regulation period, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) chief told RNZ.

“The ASA does not restrict election advertisements in those ways,” Hilary Souter said.

But if you are making an election ad, you’ve absolutely, positively got to include a promoter statement.

What’s a promoter statement, then?

Basically, it tells people who’s behind the advertisement. Those small notes you see on billboards telling you “authorised by Joe Bloggs” or something similar? That’s a promoter statement.

Promoter statements are required at all times, even outside the regulatory period, and they must include a name and contact details.

Advocacy groups such as Council of Trade Unions or Family First NZ also fall in this requirement.

They need to be “clearly displayed,” the Electoral Commission says – no 2-point font, please – and it notes “making your promoter statement too small will likely generate complaints”.

Even advertisements related to the election but not pushing one particular view – such as encouraging people to vote or enrol – must include a promoter statement.

If you don’t use a promoter statement, you can be fined up to $40,000 – which could pay for a lot of pamphlets – so it’s probably worth taking the time to credit your advert accordingly.

Elections NZ also can give advice on whether an ad counts as an election advertisement or not, by contacting advisory@elections.govt.nz.

What about election billboards?

There’s no actual national rule about election billboards waiting until the final weeks to go up.

However, election billboard rules are set by local councils and vary from place to place. For example, in Auckland election signs are only allowed nine weeks before Election Day.

“You should talk to your local council before you put up any election signs,” Elections NZ’s website warns.

In 2023 for instance, the ACT party was found to be in breach of electoral rules in Tasman and Marlborough districts by putting up large signs in June before the October election.

The Electoral Act says you can have election signs that are up to three square metres in size in the nine weeks before Election Day. And all those billboards are required to have the mandatory promoter statement, preferably not at microscopic size.

But the internet is likely to be the biggest battlefield in 2026, not billboards.

“The fact is that such blanket forms of advertising are very expensive and the spend-to-result ratio is not that efficient as most people simply are not really thinking about the election,” Geddis said.

“Which is why parties and candidates will put their money towards online messaging that they can target towards individuals they think are most likely to be influenced.”

A compilation of TV ads from the 2023 election:

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Are media companies obligated to be fair in the ads they run?

There’s no requirement for equal time, so if one party decides to buy more ads there’s no obligation for media to run an equal amount by another. It’s all about how much money political groups are willing to spend.

“Ultimately, the responsibility to be aware of and comply with all aspects of advertising regulation is shared between all the parties to an advertisement, including the advertiser, agencies, and media organisations,” the Advertising Standards Code says.

And if ads are misleading or violate the rules, there are several ways to file a complaint about them.

How do you make complaints?

The Electoral Commission deals with breaching of election advertising or Election Day rules under the Electoral Act, and election programmes under the Broadcasting Act. Offences could then be reported to the police.

When it comes to content, the Broadcasting Standards Authority (BSA), the Media Council and ASA can all field possible complaints about election adverts that fall in their jurisdiction.

The BSA oversees TV and radio, the ASA oversees ads in other media, and the Media Council looks at editorial content concerns.

“As in previous years, our focus will be on paid election advertising and compliance under the rules of social responsibility and truthful presentation,” the ASA’s Souter said.

Do all these rules apply in cyberspace?

Of course, the days of people only seeing election ads in newspapers and before the 6pm news are long past.

You’re likely to soon be bombarded by election content every time you start scrolling on your phone.

“We are acutely aware of the ongoing changes to the information environment and how rapidly technology is developing,” Temel said.

Broadly, the rules are just the same for online advertisements.

“Our election advertising rules are media-neutral in that the same requirements apply no matter where they appear,” Geddis said.

“As such, online election ads delivered through social media or elsewhere still must contain promoters statements that alert those receiving them as to who is behind the messages.”

What about AI ads? Are there rules about those?

AI-generated content has taken over much of the world these days, and it’s likely to only get worse this year.

There’s no specific regulations around the use of AI in political advertising, although in 2023 complaints were heard about its use in National campaign advertisements, while an ACT party ad with an AI-generated ‘happy Māori’ image last year also drew controversy.

“We have social media advice on our website for people on what to do if an election ad doesn’t look right,” Temel said.

“There are some checks that can be applied. Does the ad have a promoter statement saying who’s behind it? If it’s from a candidate or party, you can check if it’s on their social media account or website. If you’re not sure about it, don’t share it.”

Existing frameworks like the Harmful Digital Communications Act and Privacy Act also apply to AI content, while other advertising standards can also apply to misleading online election ads.

“The ASA codes do not currently contain AI-specific rules,” Souter said. “The codes apply regardless of how content is generated, edited, or targeted.”

Geddis notes the Electoral Act 1993 includes the offence of undue influence”, which prohibits using “any fraudulent means [to] impede or prevent the free exercise of the franchise of an elector”.

“The limits of this provision are relatively untested, but could be read to capture some AI-generated disinformation that is intended to discourage voters from casting a ballot,” he said.

Should the regulated period be longer when the election isn’t for months?

Geddis said the time between the announcement and Election Day isn’t actually unusually long this year.

“The gap between election announcement and Election Day is two to three weeks longer than in 2023, which is not hugely different.

“The problem is that the further the regulated period – where controls on campaign spending are in place – is pushed out from polling day, the more forms of political related speech get captured.

“It isn’t just candidates or parties that have caps on their election advertisements. All individuals or groups who publish these sorts of messages during the regulated period face spending caps.”

Geddis said because MPs and parties are prohibited from spending parliamentary funding on election advertising during the regulated period, “all parties have an interest in keeping this period at three months”.

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– Published by EveningReport.nz and AsiaPacificReport.nz, see: MIL OSI in partnership with Radio New Zealand