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H
owick Local Board chairman David Collings has narrowly avoided having his name sent to police by Election Services after he was seven weeks late handing in his electoral donations and expenses returns. Section 112A of the Local Electoral Act 2001 requires every election candidate to file a return of electoral donations and expenses “within 55 days after the day on which the successful candidates at any election are declared to be elected”. At 5pm on January 31 – a little over a week ago – 15 candidate names were sent to police by Election Services after they all missed the final electoral return deadline, which had already been extended more than once.
Mr Collings filed his two returns four days before that final deadline – on January 27 – after Election Services reminded him for a third time and informed him that a Times reporter was looking into why his returns had not been received and published online. For the local elections held on October 8 last year – in which Mr Collings was successfully reelected onto the Howick Local Board, Pakuranga subdivision – the electoral return deadline set by Election Services was December 9. This date was later extended to December 14 and then January 31 (see story on page 3 as to why). Mr Collings also ran for a seat on the Counties Manukau District Health Board in the October elections and was unsuccessful. The Times contacted Auckland Council and Election Services on January 27 – 104 days after successful candidates were declared
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to be elected and 49 days after the initial return deadline – after it discovered that Mr Collings had not yet submitted his return for both the Howick Local Board election as well as the Counties Manukau District Health Board election. This is the second election in a row that Mr Collings has missed the 55-day deadline for both the Howick Local Board and Counties Manukau District Health Board – for the 2013 election he was 89 days late handing in his electoral returns for both elections. The Local Electoral Act 2001 states that a candidate who fails, without reasonable excuse, to comply with section 112A commits an offence and is liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $1000 and if elected, a further fine not exceeding $400 for every day that he or she continues to hold office until the return is filed. Managing director of Election
Services, Dale Ofsoske, responded to the Times’ enquiry on January 27 (the same day) to say Mr Collings had now filed his returns. “This was received this afternoon after a phone call from me reminding him this had not yet been submitted, despite being reminded of this in November and December...” When asked if he had informed Mr Collings during that phone call that a reporter was asking questions about his missing returns, Mr Ofsoske said: “Yes I did, although he did say he had completed it before Christmas but had neglected to send it in.” This statement matches the date on Mr Collings’ two electoral returns, which have been supplied to the Times and show nothing out of the ordinary. Both completed forms, which were filed at the same time on January 27, are dated December ➤ Turn to Page 3 7, 2016.