Every three years. each local authority in New Zealand is required to hold its triennial election of members. The elections are conducted under the provisions of the Local Electoral Act 2001, the Local Electoral Regulations 2001 and the Local Government Act 2002, and will be held this year on Saturday 13 October 2007.
The elections are undertaken on behalf of the regional council by its twelve constituent territorial authorities (Hamilton City, and Franklin, Hauraki, Matamata-Piako, Otorohanga, Rotorua, South Waikato, Thames-Coromandel, Taupo, Waikato, Waipa and Waitomo District Councils).
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Candidate eligibility
To be eligible to stand as a candidate for election you must:
- be enrolled as a Parliamentary elector anywhere in New Zealand
- be a New Zealand citizen.
Elections New Zealand has more information about local body elections, including frequently asked questions and guidelines on how to enrol and how to vote.
Electoral systems
The Local Electoral Act 2001 (LEA) allows the council to use one of two electoral (voting) systems for their triennial elections. The two systems are:
First Past the Post system electoral system(FPP) and the Single Transferable Voting electoral system (STV)
The council along with most territorial authorities in the Waikato region will use the FPP electoral system where electors vote by indicating their preferred candidate(s). The candidate(s) receiving the highest number of votes is declared elected.
The council is required to give public notice of their chosen electoral (voting) system two years before the date of the next triennial election. This decision was made by resolution of council in August 2005 and public notice given on 5 September 2005. Council did not receive any requests from residents or ratepayers to hold a poll to change this decision.
Voter eligibility and electoral rolls
All residential electors and non-resident ratepayer electors whose names appear on the electoral roll for each constituent territorial authority in the Waikato region are eligible to vote.
The preliminary electoral rolls for each constituent territorial authority in the Waikato region will be available for public inspection at council offices, libraries and post shops from Friday 27 July 2007 to Friday 24 August 2007.
There are two types of electoral rolls: the Resident Roll and the Non-Resident Ratepayer Roll.
Resident rolls
All parliamentary electors are automatically enrolled on the territorial authority's Resident Electoral Roll at the place where they live. A confirmation card is issued approximately three months before the date set for the election (the second Saturday in October in election year).
Any alterations to the Resident Roll such as change of address details or new postal addresses should be made by either:
- completing the appropriate form at any Post Shop
- telephoning 0800 ENROLNOW (0800 367 656)
- visiting the Electoral Enrolment Centre website on www.elections.org.nz.
Ratepayer rolls
If you pay rates on a property in a different area from where you live, you may be eligible to be enrolled on the Non-Resident Ratepayer Roll. A firm, company, corporation or society paying rates on a property, may also nominate one of its members or officers as a ratepayer elector (providing the nominated person lives outside of the area).
Ratepayer enrolment forms and change of address forms are available from the relevant constituency's territorial authority office.
Voting method
The voting method used for the elections is postal voting. Voting papers will be sent to residents and ratepayers in each constituency along with voting papers for the territorial authority. Completed voting papers must be returned to the relevent territorial authority for each constituency for processing.
Voting documents
Voting documents will be sent to all eligible electors by post from Friday 21 September 2007.
The voting period is for three weeks from Friday 21 September to noon on Saturday 13 October 2007. Electors should return their completed voting papers back to the electoral officer using the reply paid envelope which will be enclosed with the voting documents.
As progressive counting of voting documents will again be undertaken for this election, electors are urged to complete and post their voting documents as early as possible.
Useful links
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Elections New Zealand has more information about local authority elections, including frequently asked questions and guidelines on how to enrol and how to vote.