Notice Type
Departmental
Medical Practitioners (Election of Medical Members of Council) Rules 1999 Pursuant to section 125 (2) (a) of the Medical Practitioners Act 1995, I, Wyatt Betham Creech, Minister of Health, hereby approve the Medical Practitioners (Election of Medical Members of Council) Rules 1999, made by the Medical Council. Dated at Wellington this 13th day of July 1999. WYATT CREECH, Minister of Health. MEDICAL PRACTITIONERS (ELECTION OF MEDICAL MEMBERS OF COUNCIL) RULES 1999 1. Title and commencement (1) These rules may be cited as the Medical Practitioners (Election of Medical Members of Council) Rules 1999. (2) These rules shall come into force on the day the rules, as approved by the Minister of Health, are published in the Gazette. 2. Interpretation The terms used in these rules and defined in the Medical Practitioners Act 1995 have the same meaning as in that Act. 3. Dates on which election of members of Medical Council to be held The election of 4 members of the Medical Council for the purposes of section 124 (c) of the Act shall be carried out at elections to be held (a) during the month of November 1999; and (b) during the month of November in every third year after that year, on a date in that month to be fixed by the president, who shall also fix the hour at which the poll will be closed. 4. Returning officer for elections The chief executive officer shall be the returning officer for any such election. 5. Eligibility to be elected A medical practitioner is eligible for election to the council if, on the date nominations close for election, the practitioner is registered. 6. Notice of election to be sent to registered medical practitioners At least 90 clear days before the date on which an election is to be held, the returning officer shall send to each registered medical practitioner a notice setting out (a) the date of the election and the hour the poll will close: (b) the date and the hour on which the nomination of candidates will close; and (c) the prescribed form for nominations, as set out in rule 7 below. 7. Candidates for election (1) Every candidate for election must be nominated in writing on a form specified by the council, with respective registration number indicated, by 15 other registered medical practitioners eligible to vote. (2) The nomination form (a) shall contain the registration number, full name and registered address of the registered medical practitioner nominated, the written consent of the nominee and a biographical sketch (maximum 150 words) in a format specified by the council, and (b) may also include a statement to voters (maximum 100 words) prepared by the nominee and a recent photograph, and (c) shall be forwarded to the returning officer so as to reach him or her not later than 60 clear days before the date of the election. Any nomination not received within that time shall be invalid and shall be disregarded. (d) a candidate who withdraws after the closing date for nominations, and after the printing of the ballot paper, will have his or her votes counted as if they were a ``vacating member'' as set out in clause 14 (1) (b). (3) Information supplied by candidates will be edited to comply with a standard format and sent out to electors with the voting papers. 8. Position where only 4 nominees (1) If at any election only 4 candidates are nominated for election, the returning officer shall declare the candidates so nominated to be duly elected. (2) Every such declaration shall be made by notice in the Gazette as soon as practicable after the date upon which the nominations close. 9. Position where more than 4 nominees (1) If at any election more than 4 candidates are nominated for election, an election shall be conducted by postal ballot in accordance with the following provisions: (a) The register of medical practitioners as it stands on the day, and at the time, on which nominations close shall be used as the register for the purposes of the election, and each name in the register shall be distinctively numbered for the purposes of the election: (b) The returning officer shall, immediately after the day on which nominations close, prepare ballot papers according to subclauses (2) and (3) below: (2) Every ballot paper shall (a) contain the full names of each candidate, and (b) list the candidates in the order determined by lot by the returning officer in the presence of a member of the council, and (c) list the names of each candidate with the family name first. (3) Ballot papers shall be in a form specified by the council, and shall state that to be a valid vote it must reach the returning officer by the time and date fixed for holding the election. (4) The returning officer shall as soon as possible after the ballot papers have been prepared, and not less than 30 days before the date fixed for the election, send one ballot paper, together with an envelope addressed to the returning officer, Medical Council, Wellington, marked ``ballot paper'', by post to every registered medical practitioner on the electoral roll. (5) No ballot paper shall be valid unless it is received by the returning officer, in the envelope issued with the ballot paper, before the time and date fixed for the election. 10. Voting (1) Voting shall be by the single transferable vote method, which requires voters to place candidates in order of preference, by writing as a minimum ``1'' next to the name of the most preferred candidate, and then ``2'' next to the name of the second most preferred candidate, ``3'' next to the name of the third most preferred candidate and ``4'' next to the name of the fourth most preferred candidate and so on: (2) Each candidate may, by notice in writing to the returning officer, appoint one scrutineer to be present when the envelopes containing the voting papers of the election in which he or she is a candidate are opened and the votes counted. If no scrutineer is nominated by any candidate as invited, the returning officer shall appoint one scrutineer to be present at the opening and counting of the votes. (3) (a) Envelopes sent in by voters shall be opened and ballot papers validated against the electoral roll (by electronic means as necessary) to ensure that only those eligible to vote have done so, and (b) Voting preferences shall then be entered on the database ready for electronic counting when the poll has closed, and (c) All informal votes have been rejected. (4) A voting paper shall be rejected as informal (a) if it had not been received by the returning officer by the time of the closing of the poll; or (b) if it does not clearly indicate the candidate or candidates for whom the elector desires to vote, or (c) if it contains any means (other than electronic code) by which the name of the voter may be identified; or (d) if the number ``1'' is marked opposite the name of more than one candidate; or (e) if the number ``1'' is not marked opposite the name of one candidate. (5) When the poll has closed and all valid votes have been entered in the database, the returning officer (or agent appointed by the returning officer for the purpose of counting votes, to be known as the counting officer) shall count the votes recorded in the ballot papers received by him or her after rejecting informal ballot papers (by electronic means as necessary) and the required number of candidates, taking into account preferential votes according to the rules set out in the Schedule to these rules, shall be elected. 11. Declaration The returning officer shall cause to be published in the Gazette, as soon as practicable after the date upon which the election is held, a rank ordered list of successful candidates and an alphabetical list of unsuccessful candidates. 12. Returning officer to be sole judge of regularity of election (1) The returning officer shall be the sole and absolute judge of the regularity and propriety of all matters connected with any election, and no election shall be called in question on the ground that (a) A ballot paper or an addressed envelope was not forwarded to any voter; or (b) a ballot paper from any voter was not received by the returning officer; or (c) A ballot paper prepared by the returning officer was irregular in form; or (d) Any vote was irregularly cast; or (e) Any other irregularity occurred in connection with any election, unless in the opinion of the returning officer any such irregularity materially affected the result of the election and occurred otherwise than in good faith. (2) If any election is called in question under subclause (1) of this rule, including any extraordinary circumstance where the electronic database of voting preferences is corrupted during entry or counting of the votes, by events outside the returning officer's control, the returning officer shall either (a) Recount the votes after (i) Including any vote that was not previously counted due to the irregularity; and (ii) Rejecting any vote that was irregularly cast; and (iii) Rejecting informal ballot papers; or (b) If the returning officer considers it necessary, declare the election void and arrange for another election to be held. (3) Any person who is elected to be a member of the council prior to a recount of votes in accordance with subclause (2) (a) of this rule, but who is not the candidate who is finally elected, shall be deemed not to be elected. (4) If the irregularity occurred by reason of any registered medical practitioner acting otherwise than in good faith, the returning officer may report the matter to the president of the council. 13. Commencement of office Every person elected to be a member of the Medical Council shall come into office on the day after the publication in the Gazette of the results of the election, such publication to be not more than 15 working days after the date of the election. 14. Filling of vacancies (1) If the seat of an elected council member becomes vacant before the expiry of the member's term of office and the vacating member was elected under the provisions of the Medical Practitioners (Election of Medical Members of Council) Rules 1999, the council shall instruct the CEO to (a) Leave the seat vacant; or (b) (i) In the event of a vacancy occurring as a result of the death, resignation, or dismissal of an elected medical member of council (hereinafter called the ``vacating member''), the council shall subject to the proviso that the vacating member's remaining term on the council is not less than 6 months seek to fill the vacancy by means of recounting the votes originally cast in the election at which the vacating member was elected to the Medical Council of New Zealand. [sp'(b) '](ii) Before the recount takes place, the CEO of the council will determine whether candidates who were not successful in the election at which the vacating member was elected are still prepared to be candidates for election as a medical member of council. In order to ascertain this, registered letters will be sent to all relevant candidates, and a period of not less than 2 weeks but not more than 4 weeks will be allotted for the receipt of their answers. [sp'(b) '](iii) The recount of the single transferable votes cast in the original election will be conducted on the basis of the principles outlined in the Schedule Rules for Counting Votes, but in the recount preferences will flow through the vacating member as well as through any previously unsuccessful candidate who does not wish to be considered as a candidate for election in the recount. [sp'(b) '](iv) Recounts undertaken for the purpose of filling a vacancy caused by the departure from the council of a vacating member will not invalidate the election of any candidate elected as a medical member of council in the original election. (2) The term of office of a member appointed under subclause (1) (b) of this rule expires when the former council member's term would have expired. 15. Notices to be sent to address in register Every notice required to be sent to a registered medical practitioner pursuant to rule 6 of these rules, and every ballot paper required to be sent to a registered medical practitioner pursuant to rule 9 of these rules, shall be sent to the medical practitioner at his or her address set out in the register. 16. Revocation The Medical Practitioners (Election of Members of Council) Rules 1996 are revoked. Schedule Rules for Counting the Votes A Counting First Preferences (1) The number of first preferences recorded for each candidate shall be counted. (2) The aggregate number of first preferences so recorded shall be divided by one more than the number of candidates required to be elected, and the quotient increased by one, disregarding any remainder, shall be the quota, and (except as provided in rule G of this Schedule), a candidate who does not obtain a number of votes equal to or greater than the quota shall not be elected. (3) A candidate who has, after the first preferences have been counted, a number of such preferences equal to or greater than the quota shall be declared elected. B First Preferences Equal to or in Excess of Quota (1) If the number of first preferences obtained by a candidate is equal to the quota, the whole of the voting papers on which a first preference is recorded for that candidate shall be set aside as finally dealt with. (2) If the number of first preferences obtained by a candidate is in excess of the quota, the proportion of those preferences in excess of the quota shall be transferred to the other candidates not yet declared elected, next in the order of the respective preferences of the electors, in the following manner (a) all the voting papers on which a first preference is recorded for the elected candidate shall be re-examined, and the number of second preferences, or, in the case provided in rule I of this Schedule, third or next consecutive preferences, recorded for each unelected candidate shall be counted; and (b) the surplus of the elected candidate shall be divided by the total number of votes obtained by the candidate on the counting of the first preferences, and the resulting fraction shall be the transfer value; and (c) the number of second or other preferences, ascertained in paragraph (a) to be recorded for each unelected candidate, shall be multiplied by the transfer value; and (d) the resulting number, disregarding any fractional remainder, shall be transferred to each unelected candidate, and added to the number of votes obtained by that candidate on the counting of the first preferences. C Surpluses (1) Where, on the counting of the first preferences or on a transfer, more than one candidate has a surplus, the largest surplus shall be dealt with first, and if at that stage more than one candidate has a surplus, the then largest surplus shall be dealt with, and so on, but if one candidate has obtained a surplus at a count or transfer previous to that at which another candidate obtains a surplus, the surplus of the former shall be dealt with first. (2) Where 2 or more surpluses are equal, the surplus of the candidate who was the highest on the poll at the count or transfer at which they last had an unequal number of votes shall be dealt with first, and, if they have had an equal number of votes at all preceding counts or transfers, the candidate to be dealt with first shall be decided by lot. D Increase in Vote Equal to or in Excess of Quota (1) If the number of votes obtained by a candidate is increased to a number which is equal to, or exceeds the quota by a transfer, the candidate shall be declared elected. (2) In a case to which subclause (1) of this rule applies, notwithstanding the fact that the candidate may have reached the quota, the transfer shall be completed, and all the votes to which the candidate is entitled from the transfer shall be transferred, but no votes of any other candidate shall be transferred to that candidate. (3) If the number of votes obtained by a candidate is increased to a number which is equal to the quota by a transfer, the voting papers on which such votes are recorded shall be set aside as finally dealt with. (4) Where the number of votes obtained by a candidate is increased to a number which exceeds the quota by a transfer, that surplus shall be transferred to the candidates next in the order of the respective preferences of the voters, in the following manner (a) the voting papers on which are recorded the votes obtained by the elected candidate after the last transfer shall be re-examined, and the number of third, or, in the case provided for in rule I to this Schedule, next consecutive preferences recorded for each unelected candidate counted; and (b) the surplus of the elected candidate shall be divided by the total number of voting papers mentioned in paragraph (a), and the resulting fraction shall be the transfer value; and (c) the number of third or other preferences, ascertained in accordance with paragraph (a) as having been recorded for each unelected candidate, shall be multiplied by the last mentioned transfer value; and (d) the resulting number, disregarding any fractional remainder, shall be credited to each unelected candidate, and added to the number of votes previously obtained by that candidate. E Lowest Polling Candidate (1) Where, after the first preferences have been counted and all surpluses, if any, have been transferred, no candidate, or fewer than the number of candidates required to be elected, has or have obtained the quota, the candidate who, at that time, is lowest on the poll, shall be excluded, and all the votes obtained by that candidate shall be transferred to the candidates next in the order of the respective preferences of the electors, in the same manner as provided by rule B (2) to this Schedule. (2) (a) The votes obtained by an excluded candidate as first preferences shall be transferred first, (b) The transfer value of each of those votes shall be ``1'', (3) The other votes of an excluded candidate shall then be dealt with in the order of the transfers in which, and at the transfer value at which, they were obtained. (4) Each of the transfers which takes place under subclauses (2) or (3) of this rule shall be deemed for all purposes to be a separate transfer. F Transfer of Votes (1) If the number of votes obtained by a candidate is increased to a number which is equal to, or exceeds, the quota by a transfer, the candidate shall be declared elected. (2) If subclause (1) of this rule applies, notwithstanding the fact that the candidate may have reached the quota, the transfer shall be completed, and all the votes to which the candidate is entitled from the transfer shall be transferred, but no other votes shall be transferred to that candidate. (3) If the number of votes obtained by a candidate is increased to a number of votes which is equal to, but does not exceed, the quota by a transfer, the voting papers on which those votes are recorded shall be set aside as finally dealt with. (4) If the number of votes obtained by a candidate is increased to a number which exceeds the quota by a transfer, the surplus shall be transferred to the candidates next in the order of the respective preferences of the electors in the same manner as provided by rule D (4) to this Schedule, but that surplus shall not be dealt with until all the votes of the excluded candidate have been transferred. (5) If a surplus exists, it shall be dealt with before any other candidate is excluded. G Transfer of Votes of Excluded Candidates The process of excluding the candidate who has polled the next lowest number of votes at the election and transferring to other candidates the votes of the excluded candidate shall be repeated until all the candidates, except the number required to be elected, have been excluded, and the non-excluded candidates who have not already been declared elected shall then be declared elected. H Candidates with Equal Numbers of Votes If it becomes necessary to exclude a candidate, and 2 or more candidates having the same number of votes are at the time, the lowest on the poll, then whichever of those candidates was recorded as having the lowest number of votes at the last count or transfer at which they had an unequal number of votes shall be excluded first, and if those candidates have had an equal number of votes at all preceding counts or transfers, the candidate to be excluded first shall be decided by lot. I Order of Preferences In determining which candidate is next in the order of preference of an elector, any candidates who have been declared elected or who have been excluded shall not be considered, and the order of the preference shall be determined as if the names of those candidates had not been on the voting paper. J Exhausted Voting Papers (1) If on a transfer it is found that on a voting paper there is no candidate opposite whose name a number is placed, other than a candidate who has already been either declared elected or excluded, the voting paper shall be set aside as exhausted. (2) Where the preference of an elector has been indicated in any way other than solely by the use of numbers the voting paper shall be set aside as exhausted after the counting of (a) the first preference indicated by the voting paper, if ``1'' is the only number used; or (b) the preferences indicated by a sequence of numbers beginning with ``1''. (3) If the same number is recorded opposite the name or more than one candidate or if a number within the sequence of preferences indicated is missing, the voting paper shall be set aside as exhausted immediately before preferences indicated by that number are considered. K Illustration of Recount Principle The recount principle for filling vacancies can be illustrated by referring to the following scenario: if an elector had in the original election cast his or her first preference for the vacating member, cast his or her second preference for a candidate who declined to be considered as a candidate for election in the recount, and cast his or her third preference for a candidate either who was originally elected or who was originally unsuccessful but who still wished to be considered as a candidate for election in the recount, then that elector's third preference would in the recount be counted as the equivalent of a first preference vote. Surplus votes will flow through vacating members and non-candidates in a similar manner.
Publication Date
22 Jul 1999

Notice Number

1999-go5274

Page Number

2006