Northern Advocate reporter Jaime Lyth is voting in New Zealand’s local council elections for the first time this year. Lyth has enlisted the help of Local Democracy Reporter Northland Susan Botting to guide her through the treacherous, controversial and often confusing waters of local elections as she embarks on her local election journey.

Despite the common complaint of ‘Wellington making decisions for regional New Zealand’, every year more people vote in general elections than in local elections.

The number of New Zealanders voting has been declining since the 1980s and the gap between parliamentary election voter turnout and average council turnout grew from 23 per cent in 1987/89, to 31 per cent in 2019.

People are less likely to vote in local body elections than in central government elections because they don’t see them to be as important, research by Local Government NZ suggests.

I was one of those people. In 2019 I was in university and encountering my first opportunity to vote and I didn’t even know the local elections had happened by the time my chance to vote had disappeared.

One of the first things you learn quickly as a journalist is the extensive and incredible involvement local councils have in our everyday lives.

The district council is in direct control of many things we encounter in the first moments of our days.

This includes the cost of the water when I turn on the tap, whether that water is safe to drink, the rubbish collected outside my door, the sidewalks I walk on or the roads I drive on and where I can park my car.

Local government is our primary level of democracy, but less than half of us are voting.

Whangārei District Council’s overall voter turnout was 45 per cent in 2019, Kaipara District Council’s turnout was 42.6 per cent. Far North District Council topped the board with 47.5 per cent voter turnout.

Voting for the 2022 local elections ends at noon on Saturday, 8 October and postal votes must be sent in before Tuesday, October 4.

Luckily for me, I happen to sit across from an expert in council-related matters. Here are the questions I had to ask to become a voter:

Jaime: So, how do I become a local government election voter?

Susan: Firstly you have to enrol on New Zealand’s electoral rolls to vote. You do this by going to the vote NZ website vote.nz/2022 Once there, click on ‘local elections’ and then ‘enrol online’. The last day to enrol to vote in these elections is Friday, October 7, the day before voting closes.

If you’re of Māori descent and enrolling for the first time, you’ll need to decide whether you want to be on New Zealand’s general electoral roll or the Māori electoral roll. The roll you choose decides which Northland council ward or constituency you can vote in.

You have to be at least 18 to enrol and vote. There are a few other criteria thrown in as well like you must be a New Zealand citizen or permanent resident.

Jaime: How do I know who I need to vote for?
In the local elections, you have not one, but two council candidates to vote for; Northland Regional Council as well as your district council – for me Whangārei District Council. I know I will need to vote for a mayor, but I understand there are a bunch of people also wanting to become councillors that I need to vote for as well.

Susan: Well, you’re going to be voting for a Mayor and councillors in your district council – as well as councillors for Northland Regional Council (NRC).

There are three district councils in Northland – Far North District Council (FNDC) (mayor and 10 councillors), Kaipara District Council (KDC) (mayor and nine councillors) and Whangārei District Council (WDC) (mayor and 13 councillors). We also have Northland Regional Council (NRC) as you’ve mentioned (nine councillors who will choose their leader after the elections). If you’re in the Far North, you’ll also be voting for people standing for one of FNDC’s three community boards.

I reckon the first thing to do is to go to the website for the district council where you live. These websites have great interactive electoral area maps. Find your council’s map and enter your street address. Up pops the ward you’re in, plus similarly your regional council constituency. Now you know the ward and constituency electoral areas you live in. If you’re on the general roll, you can only vote for councillors in your ward.

For the first time, in the 2022 local elections each of Northland’s four councils also has a new single district-wide Māori ward. Māori electoral roll voters vote in these district-wide wards.

Voting for Northland’s three Mayors is the same. The mayor you vote for isn’t tied to a particular ward, leaders represent their whole district.

The next step is to find who your would-be council Mayor and councillors in your electoral areas are. Council websites list these candidates, grouped in electoral areas they are contesting. Each electoral area has a specific number of vacancies. You need to choose which candidates you want to nominate for these vacancies. For example, if there are five vacancies your ward, you can vote for up to five candidates. Some wards have lots more candidates than vacancies. For example, FNDC’s new Ngā Tai o Tokerau Māori Ward has 18 candidates for its four positions. WDC’s Whangārei Urban General Ward has 19 candidates for its five positions.

There are 190 candidates across Northland standing to be one of Northland’s three mayors, and/or 41 councillors and 19 community board members. The candidates are made up of 22 would-be mayors, 135 would-be councillors and in the Far North, 33 would-be community board members.

KDC kaipara.govt.nz
FNDC fndc.govt.nz
WDC wdc.govt.nz
NRC nrc.govt.nz

Jaime: How do I find out which candidates stand for my values?
“I don’t know enough about the candidates” was the most common reason given for not voting in the 2016 LGNZ post-election. I’m able to gauge some of my options by signage throughout the city, but the information offered on voting advertising signage is scant. Figuring out where I can find unpartisan information about the candidates and what they stand for is important if I want my vote to make Northland a better place.

Susan: Candidates listed on council websites each have a short accompanying profile. Candidates will have their own social media accounts and online activity that you can check out. There are lots of local meet-the-candidates meetings organised by local communities. There is also a candidate profile booklet in voting packs.
(Whangārei voters will get the chance to hear from their mayoral candidates, and hear them answer a series of questions, at the Northern Advocate and The Hits Northland Meet the Whangārei Mayoral Candidates evening.
The event is expected to draw hundreds of voters to Forum North, Whangārei, from 6pm on September 26.)

Jaime: How do I cast my local election vote in this modern day and age – can I do it online?

Susan: New Zealand has different ways of political voting, depending on whether it’s in a local election or a government election. The next national elections will be in 2023 and voting is done by voters dropping their voting papers into official ballot boxes.

In contrast, the 2022 local government elections are done via post. There is no online voting.

You can vote between September 16 and before noon Saturday October 8 when voting closes.

Voting papers are posted to your address, you fill them in and pop them back into a NZ Post box to return to the Electoral Office. In Whangārei district, for example, there are 37 NZ Post boxes including at specified general stores, dairies, a pharmacy, supermarkets, bookshops, a veterinary practice, McDonald’s, a hot bread shop, a transport company, a retirement village, petrol station and retail outlets.

Your posted local election voting form must be in the mail by Tuesday October 4 to get to the Electoral Office in Auckland before noon Saturday October 8.

Each council also has postal voting alternatives.

Whangārei voters can drop their voting forms into local council service centres such as WDC’s Forum North and Ruakākā service centre, plus the election hub at the NGEN Room in Lower Dent Street.

Whangārei’s first drive-through voting papers drop-off has also been set up at Forum North. In the Far North, there will be a mobile ballot box among options, its locations to be advised via the council’s website.

FNDC voters can also drop their forms to one of six council service centres across the top of New Zealand. KDC voters can drop their votes into the council’s Dargaville and Mangawhai offices.

■ Local Democracy Reporting is Public Interest Journalism funded through NZ On Air