University of Auckland Library election ephemera collection.

The election ephemera in this collection has been arranged into three series: New Zealand general elections; parliamentary by-elections; and local body elections. Most of the material in this collection was originally part of the University of Auckland General Library’s New Zealand vertical file but was separated from the more general ephemera in 2015 when it was decided to make the contents of the vertical file into an archival collection. The remaining, non-election related, ephemera is now held as the University of Auckland Library general ephemera collection, MSS & Archives 2015/23. During the 1970s Library staff organised the general election materials (the bulk of the collection) by political party for each election. For each of the general elections from 1911 until 1978 staff created a typed ‘cover sheet’ listing the leaflets collected. These cover sheets have been retained and when the collection was rehoused in 2019 any missing or additional items were noted on the relevant cover sheet. Ephemera collected from 1981 onwards has been arranged in the same manner as the earlier material with the political party as the file descriptor but without cover sheets.

Series two is a set of parliamentary by-election leaflets organised in chronological order. Series three contains local body materials, mostly from the Auckland region. These include elections and by-elections for city, borough and regional councils; roads, harbour, hospital, transport and electricity power boards; and licencing trusts. University of Auckland General Library ceased collecting these materials in the early 1990s.

This is an active collection with ephemera sought from University of Auckland staff when general and local by-elections are called. The bulk of the contents are election leaflets distributed by political parties to households in the weeks leading up to an election. Flyers and posters for political meetings, lapel badges and bumper stickers are also collected but not larger items such as banners and hoardings.