When candidate nominations for the general elections on September 20 opened on Thursday, Tauranga independent candidate Rusty Kane was at the head of the queue.

Rusty Kane files his candidacy. Photo: file.

But Rusty's not expecting a queue, saying all other Tauranga candidates belong to political parties, with nominations likely to be handled through their parliamentary secretaries.

'Every candidate, to actually be legal, has to put in a nomination form and be nominated by two residents from the electorate,” says Rusty.

'And they have to pay $300, and that makes it legal – and it goes out to all the people that I'm actually standing.”

The Governor General Sir Jerry Mateparae has signed the writ directing the Electoral Commission to conduct the General Election on September 20, 2014.

'It's good for the electoral office; they'll want to tell other candidates that they need to hurry up because they only have a week to do it, before they miss out,” says Rusty.

The formal authority to run the 2014 election opened candidate nominations on Thursday.

The issue of the writ is a key constitutional step in the election process, says chief electoral officer Robert Peden.

The writ sets out the dates for candidate nominations to close, election day and the date the writ must be returned showing the successful electorate candidates.

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 October 9, if no application for a recount is received.

Candidate nominations close at:

• 12 noon on Monday, August 25, for bulk nominations of electorate candidates by registered political parties direct to the Electoral Commission.
• 12 noon on Tuesday, August 26, for party list candidates by registered political parties direct to the Electoral Commission.
• 12 noon on Tuesday, August 26, for individual nominations to the Returning Officer for the electorate.

The deadlines cannot be extended.

A full list of parties and candidates is expected to be publicly available from www.elections.org.nz by 2pm, Wednesday, August 27, 2014.

Other key events triggered by the issuing of the writ are:

• The Electoral Rolls close for printing, and all voters enrolled after this date cast special declaration votes.
• Candidate and party television and radio advertising may start.