By Tina Law of 
Destiny Church pastor Derek Tait has failed to file the necessary documents surrounding his election expenses. Photo: John Kirk-Anderson / Stuff
Christchurch's Destiny Church leader Derek Tait could face a criminal conviction for failing to declare his election expenses.
Tait is one of three city council candidates who have not filed their expenses forms, five weeks after the deadline.
Under the Local Electoral Act, candidates had until 9 December to provide a return detailing how much they spent on their campaigns for the October local body election, along with any donations they received over $1500.
Most candidates filed their returns before the deadline or shortly after, but three returns from unsuccessful councillor candidates remain at large.
Coastal ward candidate Don Cross, who has ties to anti-Government group Voices for Freedom, has also not handed in his return, along with Spreydon candidate Terry Craze.
On Thursday Tait said he thought his personal assistant had filed the necessary forms, and that he would be checking with them to confirm.
Tait finished third in the race for the Hornby seat with 512 votes. Mark Peters won the ward with 3069 votes.
It is not the first time Tait has fallen foul of the electoral rules.
In September, he was given a warning by electoral officer Jo Daly after he published images online of a completed ballot sheet. Under the act, anyone who publishes a document that indicates the name of a candidate someone should vote for can be fined up to $5000.
Tait also broke council rules in 2021 and 2022 when he organised a series of anti-Government protests throughout central Christchurch without the necessary permissions.
Christchurch City Council sent him bills totalling $50,000 for costs incurred during the protests, only to waive the bill in July.
According to the Local Electoral Act, any unsuccessful candidate who fails, without reasonable excuse, to file a return commits an offence and is liable on conviction to a fine of up to $1000.
Daly said all candidates who had not submitted their returns had been contacted by email or phone and asked to provide their returns.
She said she would be contacting them again this week, and if returns were not submitted promptly or without reasonable excuse she would take the required action.
* This story originally appeared on Stuff.
