Our elected representatives

Our council chamber

Local authority boundaries North Island

Local authority boundaries South Island
Maps showing the boundaries of regional and territorial authorities.

Choosing the council
How to enrol, how to vote, and how to stand for a range of local elected positions

Māori constituencies
Environment Bay of Plenty is the only local authority in New Zealand to institute Māori constituencies. Read about their reasons and their process.

Kids voting
Auckland City Council provides schools in its area with a resource to help them understand how elections work.

STV
What Single transferrable voting is, and how it works.

What a mayor does
The ways the role is interpreted is as individual as the people – read on to see how some mayors work.

What councillors do

What standing committees do

What community board members do

What school trustees do

What district health
board members do

What licensing trust members do

Choosing the council

Enrolling to vote
Postal voting
Making it happen
Standing for council
Standing and voting for district health boards

From Asia Pacific Economic News

Every three years, our communities elect people to represent them on the local council and the community boards. All citizens and permanent residents of New Zealand who are aged 18 or over are eligible to vote, and must enrol as a voter. Triennial local government elections are held in October every three years. In 2004 the closing date for votes is the 9th of October.

Enrolling to vote

You must enrol if you have not already been enrolled for a New Zealand general or local body election. If you have been enrolled before, you will need to update your details – such as a new postal address – if they have changed.

Non-resident ratepayer enrolment campaign

Local authorities encourage non-resident ratepayers to vote in all areas where they pay rates. Many people are not aware that, if they pay rates in an area in which they do not reside, they are also entitled to vote in that area as well as the one in which they usually live. SOLGM has produced an information insert for local authorities to include with their rates invoices.

People can find out more by calling 0508 9 10 2004 until the end of August 2004.

Mail box with a voting sign pointing to it.

Enrolled electors receive their voting papers from the electoral officer by post.
Photo above supplied by Dale Ofsoske, principal of Independent Election Services Ltd and the Electoral Officer for the Auckland City Council, who has been conducting elections and polls since 1985.

Local and national enrolment combined

On the eve of the 2002 triennial general election for Parliament, people were given an 'Enrolling to vote' application form.

After saying, ‘You must enrol if you are qualified to do so,’ the form explained: ‘When you enrol to vote in Parliamentary elections, your details are also made available to your local authority for the purpose of including you on the rolls for local elections.’

All local and central government election campaigns begin with a mail-out to all enrolled electors asking them to check that their details are correct. If details are incorrect, they need to make the changes, date, sign and return the forms. If the details are correct, they do nothing. If enrolment forms are received by post at an address that the voter has left, people living there must redirect it to the current address if known, or to send it back marked ‘Gone No Address’. If this occurs, that person or persons may be taken off the roll.

The campaign is supported by a multimedia advertising campaign. People who are not enrolled are encouraged to find out more and enrol at a Post Shop or via post, the Internet (www.elections.org.nz) or free phone via 0800 36 76 56.

Postal voting

In the past, people voted at local polling booths. Now, all elections for local government, District Health Boards and any licensing trusts are being managed by post. Enrolled electors receive voting documents by post and send them back to the relevant electoral officer by post. At some time in the future, people may be able to vote online.

As well as information on the candidates and vacancies, voters are sent voting documents with information on both the Single Transferable Voting (STV) and First Past the Post (FTP) systems to enable them to vote effectively.

Making it happen

The Department of Internal Affairs (DIA) has oversight of local authority elections. The Ministry of Health has oversight of the District Health Board (DHB) elections. Local Government New Zealand encourages people to stand for election.

Standing for council

Local Government New Zealand encourages prospective candidates through a direct mail-out to various media and selected organisations. The information covers the role that local government plays in the community, and how interested people can stand for their local council. Find out more by calling 0508 9 10 2004.

Standing and voting for district health boards

District health board (DHB) elections are held at the same time as local authority elections. DHBs are responsible to the Minister of Health. They use the local election approach in order to bring a community voice into DHBs.

In each of the 21 District Health Board areas set up under the New Zealand Public Health and Disability Act 2000, voters elect seven of the 11 board members. The Minister of Health appoints the remaining four. The Minister of Health also appoints the chair and deputy chair from either elected or appointed members. “DHBs receive their finance from central government’s national taxes, which is why they are accountable to the Minister,” says the Ministry of Health, Director, Governance, Bruce Anderson.

The Ministry of Health campaigns to increase awareness of the possibility of standing for District Health Boards. The Ministry also runs a publicity campaign to encourage voters to vote for District Health Boards.

This page was sponsored by Auckland City Council.

Find out more!

For an article on evoting, see www.decisionmaker.co.nz/localgovernment