When were Labour told?

Just had some useful clarifications on when Labour were told that the pledge cards etc constituted election activity.

Prior to the election National complained to the Chief Electoral Office that they were electoral activity (as defined by the Act) and they broke the law by not having an “Authorised by” statement on them. The Chief Electoral Officer considered the matter and advised *prior to the election* that he considered they did constitute election activity and referred Labour to the Police on that matter.

Now despite having already been told by the Chief Electoral Officer that he considered the pledge cars as election activity, Labour carried on calculating their spending as excluding them.

Then after the election the Electoral Commission (a different body) got Labour’s return and formed the same view as the Chief Electoral Officer that the pledge cards were election activity and hence has also referred Labour to the Police for the different offence of over-spending.

So Labour were already in possession of the advice from the Chief Electoral Officer that these pledge cards constituted election activity, when they decided to carry on spending over the limit, despite the almost inevitable likelihood that the Electoral Commission would form the same view as the Chief Electoral Office and deem them to have over-spent.

I wonder if the very small level of fine available was a key factor in deciding to risk it?