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The candidate for the Council of the City of Innes Ward, Ali Jones, has been promoting her association with the Community Council in a billboard. Photo: Provided
Christchurch’s deputy mayor Pauline Cotter says Billboard’s advertising with her nearest electoral rival is “very obvious election.”
Ali Jones bought the announcement of electronic signaling in Cranford St, which includes her email from the Christchurch City Council and says she is a member of the Community Council (Waipapa Papanui-Innes-Central).
Electoral signs are not allowed until July 8, nine weeks before election day. But Jones says signaling is not for his election campaign, but it is for the constituents of the community council to know that they can contact her with any problem.
“It’s basically just to say, ‘Hey, look, I’m here if you need to get in touch,'” Jones said.
She is running against Cotter to the Innes wing seat on the city council – a race she lost to Cotter for just eight votes in the 2022 local body elections.
Cotter said Jones has the right to put the sign, but called it “very obvious elections.”
The question caught the eye after it was published on the Christchurch Reddit page, where on -line users accused Jones of a “cunning” method to avoid campaign signaling rules.
Jones acknowledges that the billboard is an effort to increase his image in the wing, but says he also has benefits for voters.
“I’m very straightforward. I don’t like to play. I want to be sitting around this advice table and create my profile helps it, but at the same time the sign helps me do my work as an elected member.”
She started paying for ads early last month.
The standards of the Electoral Commission state that an ‘electoral announcement’ is recognized as such if people encourage to vote for a candidate, party or type of candidate in particular with certain opinions.
Cotter said the issue raises concerns about early campaign spending that do not need to be legally declared as an election expense.
She acknowledged that even if Jones signaling was legally considered in campaign, the expense would not need to be declared under current rules, as it was out of three months of campaign.
“I think the electoral commission should really look at it … Maybe any spending within 12 months should be (told),” said Cotter.
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