Voting Information

To vote in a local body election you need to be registered on the electoral roll.

You are eligible to enrol if you:

  • are 18-years of age or older
  • are a New Zealand citizen or permanent resident
  • have lived in New Zealand, continuously, at any time for one year or more.
  • have lived at your current address for more than one month
  • are a non-resident ratepayer who has applied for enrolment on the ratepayer roll
  • are resident outside of the Waitomo District and have been nominated by a firm, company, corporation or society paying rates on a property in the Waitomo District.

 

All parliamentary electors, including those on the Māori Electoral Roll, are automatically enrolled on the Resident Roll, at the address where they live.

Any alterations to the Resident Roll (e.g. change of address details, including new postal addresses) should be made by:

 

FPP system

Electors vote by indicating their preferred candidate(s), and the candidate(s) that receives the most votes is declared the winner, regardless of the proportion of votes that candidate(s) received.

 

Non-resident ratepayer roll

If you are on the electoral roll in one area and pay rates on a property in another, 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 nominate one of its members or officers as a ratepayer elector (provided the nominated person resides outside the area).

Download the ratepayer elector form (PDF 59 KB)

 

--

Election Day

Election Day is Saturday 11 October 2025 and voting closes at 12noon on that day. The voting period starts on Friday 9 September 2025.

 

Our Customer Service Centre on Rora Street will be open from 8am until 12noon on 11 October 2025, to receive any voting papers and to take special votes.

 

All local authority elections will be conducted by postal vote. Voting documents will be delivered by NZ Post between Friday 9 September 2025 and Monday 22 September 2025.

 

Special Voting

Special Votes are available:

- If your name does not appear on the final electoral roll, but you will nevertheless qualify. Usually this is when you have enrolled after the roll closed

- If you did not get a voting paper that had been posted

- If you spoiled or damaged a voting paper

- If you are going to be overseas over the election period

- If you are on the unpublished roll

You can either pick up your special voting pack from Waitomo District Council, or we can post it out to you (the last day for posting is Tuesday 30 September). However, the completed voting papers must be returned to the Electoral Officer in the envelope supplied. This is very important as special votes also require the completion of a statutory declaration - it's a legal requirement, and it also offers electors protection against possible duplicate voting.

For those unable to come into the office, a declaration and voting form can be picked up on behalf of someone, however Council needs evidence that the person they are picking it up on behalf of has given consent for that person to collect their documents, i.e. letter or phone call to Council. 

 

If you want to make a special vote, but you are not on the Parliamentary Roll (for example you may have just turned 18), you must enrol at a Post Office during normal business hours. Special vote declarations are forwarded to the Registrar of Electors who check you are eligible.

Note: Special Votes cannot be collected by candidates or their assistants for distribution to electors

 

Where to drop off your voting forms

There will be orange ballot boxes at Council's Customer Service Centre on Rora Street and Waitomo District Library on Taupiri Street

Voting papers can also be dropped into a NZ Post Mailbox.

Te Kuiti: George Street, Rora Street, Carroll Street

Piopio: Moa Street

Maniaiti/Benneydale: Ellis Road

Mōkau: Main Road, SH3