Labour Party Auckland Central candidate Helen White's now removed Ponsonby billboard remained up days past its advertised meeting date.

Major political parties have found a way around electoral campaign rules by calling hundreds of public meetings across the country.

Like Easter eggs in supermarkets straight after Boxing Day, people have been confronted with a barrage of party political billboards months before the official, regulated election period began at midnight on Thursday.

Gone now, the typically large, party-authorised billboards sported sitting MPs and wannabe electorate candidate's faces and extolled constituents to attend meetings discussing electorate issues.

Yet weeks past the advertised meeting date, the signs lingered in places like public parks often right up until the start of, or even past Thursday's election advertising oversight period.

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The Labour Party's Auckland Central candidate Helen White removed her Western Park, Ponsonby meeting sign by mid-Friday – the advertised meeting was held on June 14.

First-time candidate White faces sitting National Cabinet Minister Nikki Kaye, Green Party candidate Denise Roche and The Opportunities Party's Mika Haka.

White, a lawyer, apologised for her billboard oversight.

An Auckland Transport signage bylaw requires them to be removed within three days of the advertised meeting.

"Because I am new, I have made a mistake."

The Electoral Commission is getting a legal opinion on whether White's sign constituted advertising.

Labour Party election campaign manager Andrew Kirton said signs like White's were "paid for by local campaigns".

National Party campaign manager and Cabinet Minister Steven Joyce said some pre-election period signage had been paid for by MPs' Parliamentary Service funded duties.

"Some have been funded by the local electorate organisation. These are an important way of staying in touch with the local community and we have held hundreds across the country," Joyce said.

The Opportunities Party (TOP)leader Gareth Morgan has lashed out at established political party's "hypocrisy".

"The rash of taxpayer-funded billboards, fridge magnets and other campaigning paraphernalia from incumbent politicians is proof positive we need to reform taxpayer funding of political parties in New Zealand," he said.

In early June, both Labour and National attacked TOP, which has no MPs, over its charity donations for voter email addresses campaign ploy.

Both first-time candidates, Morgan and White felt sitting MPs held an unfair advantage using Parliamentary Services funding to advertise public meetings pre-official election period.

"I'm a new candidate, meeting billboards are the only way people are going to get to know me," White said.