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BSA determines first election programmes complaint for 2017


The BSA has released its first decision on an election programme aired during the 2017 election period (23 August to midnight on 22 September 2017). The Authority did not uphold a complaint that a National Party campaign advertisement was misleading. The Authority found that the election programme did not breach Standard E4 of the Election Programmes Code as it was clearly a political party advertisement advocating for the National Party and would not have misled viewers.

The Authority also did not agree that the television advertisement implied that the National Party was only a single party in Government, as alleged by the complainant.  It considered that it would be clear to viewers that political parties would seek to promote their own parties, and to earn viewers’ party vote, in any campaign material.

For the full decision, click on the Latest Decisions button.

For more information about election complaints and the Authority’s fast-track process for election-related complaints, see our website here.