WELLINGTON, Aug. 23 (Xinhua) -- New Zealand Governor-General Patsy Reddy gave the go-ahead on Wednesday for this year's general election to be held.
Reddy signed the writ directing the Electoral Commission to conduct the general election on Sept. 23, which is the formal authority to run the election and enables candidate nominations to open on Thursday, according to an Electoral Commission release.
The writ was handed over to the Board of the Electoral Commission at Government House in Wellington Wednesday morning.
"The issue of the writ is a key constitutional step in the election process. It sets out the dates for candidate nominations to close, election day, and the date the writ must be returned showing the successful electoral candidates," Chief Electoral Officer, Alicia Wright, said in the release.
Under the Electoral Act, the writ must be issued within seven days of the dissolution of Parliament.
The Electoral Commission must return the writ with the names of the successful electorate candidates to the Clerk of the House of Representatives within 50 days of its issue, by Oct. 12, if no application for a recount is received, the release said.
Triggered by the issuing of the writ, candidate and party television and radio advertising may start, it said.
The New Zealand governor-general is the official representative of the New Zealand monarch, Queen Elizabeth II, who resides in Britain.
