Election 2010

News

Nominations closed

Nominations for candidates closed on Friday 20 August. Click here to see nominations received.

The 2010 election will be held on Saturday 9 October.

The election will be for a Mayor and 12 Councillors. (At the same time the election for 7 representatives for the Nelson Marlborough District Health Board will be held).

2010 election process

Voting rights

The basic right to vote is based on being a resident of Nelson and residents can enrol on the Parliamentary Electoral Roll at any time. You can do this at the Registrar of Electors’ office located in Shop S-02 Level 1 Fashion Island, Nelson CBD. Ratepayers who live outside Nelson are also eligible to become voters.

All ratepayers will be getting notification of this right with their rate invoices which will be posted out May/June, and all those already on the roll will get personal verification notices sometime before April.

Any new intending enrolees will need to complete the application form which will be available from the Nelson City Council Customer Service Centre.

For the purpose of the election the roll will be closed to enrolments at the same time as nominations are closed i.e. 20 August. Anybody not on the roll at this time will not receive a voting paper in the mail and to vote they will need to complete a special voting paper which will be available from 20 September.

Voting process

The elections will be by postal vote and voting papers will be posted out to all electors between 17 and 22 September.

People who will be out of the country between the time that papers are posted out and election day will only be able to vote if their paper can be posted to them (by a friend) and they can get them back in time. There is no facility in relation to postal voting which will allow them to vote before the papers are posted out i.e. before 17 September.

Special voting facilities will be available in the Nelson City Council Customer Services Centre as from 17 September until noon on Saturday 9 October.

Voting papers must be returned no later than noon on Saturday 9 October (Election Day).

A preliminary result will be available on the afternoon of Saturday 9 October and a final result will be issued by 25 October.

Overseas during the voting period?

There are a couple of options for obtaining your voting papers while overseas.

  • arrange for a friend to send the voting papers to you when they arrive at your address in Nelson (unless of course you have your mail stopped).
  • contact Electoral Officer Warwick Lampp at wlampp@electionz.com with an overseas address - he needs to be advised by 28 August to make this change. Voting papers are posted 17 – 22 September and must be in the hands of the Electoral Officer by 12pm 9 October, so unless you going to somewhere where the mail will take several weeks to arrive or you are only spending a few days at a time in any one place this should work.

Unfortunately there are no provisions for voting at consulates or embassies overseas and no on-line/electronic voting facilities – this applies for all Councils.

Timetable

Important dates and events in the 2010 election period 1 February to mid-December 2010

Date

Event

After 1 February 2010

Declaration of Electoral Officer and Deputy Electoral Officer

2 March - 30 April

Ratepayer Roll Enrolment Confirmation Forms sent to existing ratepayers

2 March - 2 July

Preparation of Ratepayer Roll

10 March

EEC questionnaire sent to EOs

7 April

Final representation review decisions by Local Government Commission

1 May - 31 May

National Public Notice of Ratepayer Roll Qualifications and Procedures

6 May (Thursday)

EEC test data sent to EOs

By 25 June

Early Processing Resolution (optional)

Order of Candidate Names Resolution (optional)

5 July (Monday)

EEC Enrolment Update Campaign commences

7 July (Wednesday)

Electoral Roll closes

9 July (Friday)

Receive Preliminary Electoral Rolls from EEC

Monday 12 July to Wednesday 21 July

Compile Preliminary Electoral Roll

14 July (Wednesday)

First public notice completed and booked with ad agency

19 July (Monday)

Nomination forms, Candidate Information Pack and Preliminary Rolls completed and all documents dispatched to Councils

21July (Wednesday)

Public Notice of Election (First Public Notice of Election)

Preliminary Electoral Roll Inspection, Nomination of Candidates, Closing Date of Electoral Roll

23 July (Friday)

Nominations open/Roll Open for Inspection

By 31 July

Appointment of JPs

20 August (Friday)

Nominations Close (12 noon), Electoral Roll Closes (2nd public notice confirmed with ad agency)

25 August (Wednesday)

Public Notice of Candidates and Special Voting Arrangements (Second Pub Notice of Election)

By 27 August (Friday)

Receive final Electoral Roll from EEC

27 August to 13 September

Final Postal Sort Data to mailhouse

Print Voting papers, verify Candidate Profiles

By 27 August

Ratepayer Roll insert with rates notice

13 September (Monday)

EO certifies final roll – final rolls distributed by EO

17 September (Friday)

EEC letter sent to electors on Unpublished Roll

Fri 17 September to Wed 22 September

Delivery of Voting Documents

Fri 17 September to Sat 9 October

Voting Period

Progressive Roll Scrutiny, Progressive Processing, Special Voting Period

8 October (Friday)

Appointment of Scrutineers by 12 noon

9 October 2010 (Saturday)

Election Day - Voting Closes at Noon

Provisional Results available as soon as practicable after close of voting

9 – 13 October

Official Count – process special votes

13 October to 20 October (as soon as practicable)

Public Notice of Official Declaration of Election Results

Mid December

Return of Election Expenses Forms

Local Government New Zealand

Visit LGNZ's web site for information on standing for Council, voting requirements, and other important election news and dates. Go to LGNZ's website. 

Election Signs

Click here for a copy of the Council guidelines for election signs (PDF @ 150KB). (151KB PDF)

Council determines number of members

Under the Local Electoral Act 2001, the Council has to review its methods of governing (by a Council elected at large or via wards and involving community boards) and the number of members, at least once every six years. At its meeting on Thursday 29 October 2009 after considering the submissions received in respect of the proposal to reduce the number of members to be elected at the 2010 election to 11 including the Mayor, Council resolved to retain the number at 13 including the Mayor.

Election system consideration set

Every six years the Nelson City Council has the opportunity to consider which electoral system it will use in the next two local elections. More information on the 2008 consideration for Nelson's election system.

2007 Election

Full 2007 election results for Mayor, Council, and District Health Board can be found by clicking here.

Contact

If you have additional queries, please contact Nelson's Electoral Officer by telephone on +0508 666 004.