"Politicians in particular are having a lot of arguments themselves over what their opponents can and can't do in the lead up to an election," he says.
Dr Edwards says the Electoral Commission doesn't want to be accused of not enforcing the rules so is following the law to a T.
He says there's effectively a media black-out about politics on election day but the rules are problematic.
"Certainly we're seeing that both Mediaworks and TVNZ have broken the rules when there should have been clarity about exactly what the rules are," he says.