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The recent 2014 New Zealand General Election involved enrolment drives from both OUSA and the Electoral Commission. Those hired by the Electoral Commission are paid depending on how many people they enrol, whereas other parties, such as OUSA, receive no payment.

Murray Wicks, the Electoral Commission’s National Manager of Enrolment Services, told Critic that they hire field workers to encourage people to enrol and vote. "Any group cannot have any affiliation with any party ... or any political motivation to be hired," said Wicks. The individuals get reimbursed for the number of valid enrolments they collect. The aim of the Electoral Commission is to be proactive in the way they enrol individuals. Although it is an offence not to enrol if you are eligible, they prefer to implement field workers to enrol rather than enforce the fine. However, this method could potentially be discouraging to other groups who receive no payment for their enrolment efforts.

Critic spoke to Ashlea Muston who, with her partner, was employed by the Electoral Commission to get people enrolled. Both are affiliated with Generation Zero but as part of the job they were to remain impartial. Muston spoke of the potential of OUSA and the Electoral Commission to work together to gain as much enrolment as possible in the student area, but that the plans had fallen through due to a lack of cohesiveness between workers for the Electoral Commission and OUSA.

"From a logistical point of view when I had already been in contact with each of the different halls and arranged a time for us to come in [to the hall], and then to have another party come in, and trying to arrange the same thing, it causes confusion."
Situations such as residential hall sign ups met with both parties attempting to contact and visit the halls, increasing confusion of who was supposed to be coordinating the enrolment drive and raising the question as to why an organisation with a budget of $28,000 to get enrolments received no payments but individuals did. OUSA President Ruby Sycamore-Smith said, “OUSA has not been paid for any of the enrolments as we wanted to support those non-for profit organisations that were part of the election drive.”

“OUSA does not want to capitalise on students who were enrolling to vote. We literally just want to encourage and support as many students to enroll and to vote. Because there are so many hands on deck there will naturally be an overlap and, if anything, that’s a positive, as students really have no excuse not to enroll or vote!”

In New Zealand it is an offence not to enrol if you are eligible, with the risk of a $100 fine and a further $200 fine if you are further convicted. Muston and the Electoral Commission declined to say how much employed individuals received per enrolment. Critic understands that this could be d ue to the strong commercial competition the Electoral Commission faces.