Christchurch mayor says he didn't break election rules giving out RATs

Christchurch mayor Phil Mauger.

Christchurch mayor Phil Mauger is “very confident” he has not broken the law by giving away Covid tests.

During the local body elections, Mauger is accused of handing out thousands of rapid antigen tests to potential voters.

Under the Local Electoral Act, it is an offence to gift people something for the purpose of influencing their vote. It is described as “treating” and the penalty can be up to two years in prison.

Christchurch man Aaron Campbell made the complaint to the City Council’s electoral officer, who has since referred it to police to investigate.

“I’m prompted to do this out of concern for future elections.

“If a candidate can do this type of thing this election I’m worried about what will happen next time. It's precedent setting.”

Campbell worked on mayoral candidate David Meates’ campaign, and told 1News that the complaint was not politically motivated.

“If there was a political aspect to it, if I wanted to influence the outcome of the election perhaps I would’ve made the complaint earlier and perhaps I would’ve raised it with media during the campaign itself.

“I left it specifically to the end of the campaign period,” said Campbell.

The complaint also references Mauger donating a truckload of shingle to a community group and suggesting he could fix the smell at the fire-damaged wastewater plant.

Mauger’s campaign team would not comment on the matter as it was under investigation, but said “we are very confident that the campaign has not breached any treating rules.”

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