A Justice of the Peace has been sentenced to community detention for electoral fraud.
Daljit Singh was convicted of two charges over the registering of 116 voters in the Otara-Papatoetoe area, where he stood unsuccessfully for the local board in 2010.
The High Court in Auckland was told a review of electoral applications found irregularities, with a large number of electors registered at the same address.
Singh, a senior Sikh leader and licensed immigration adviser, and five others were found guilty of registering people they knew to show they lived in the board area, although some lived in Timaru, Tauranga and India.
Singh, a father-of-two, a real estate agent and marriage celebrant faces losing his livelihood.
Justice Woolford told Singh that his actions undermined one of the most important principles of a democracy.
The judge sentenced him to five months' community detention and 200 hours of community work.
The other five people received sentences of community detention and community work.
Outside court, Greg Weake, the president of the Royal Federation of New Zealand Justices of the Peace Association, said he expects Dalit Singh's resignation soon.