Elections

News

Election date announced

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).

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.

2010 election process

Nominations for candidates will open on Friday 23 July and close on Friday 20 August. No nominations will be accepted prior to the opening date.

If a prospective candidate is likely to be out of the country when nominations are called for they can arrange for someone else to complete their nomination paper (after July 23) but they themselves need to advise the electoral office of their consent to the nomination, and confirm their eligibility to stand, by letter or fax from wherever they might be at the time.

Email nominations and consents cannot be accepted as they need to carry a legible signature of the candidate and nominees.

The final notice of the election and the list of candidates will be published in the last week of August.

Information made available

Nomination papers as well as an information pack for prospective candidates will be available from the Nelson City Council Customer Service Centre. The information pack will contain the appropriate nomination papers and can be posted out if requested.

Criteria to be a candidate

To be a candidate for election the person concerned must be a New Zealand citizen and on the Parliamentary Electoral Roll somewhere in New Zealand. They must be nominated by two people who are on the Parliamentary Electoral roll for Nelson.

If the number of candidates exceed the number of vacancies (i.e. more than 12 for Councillor and / or more than one for Mayor) an election will be required.

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.

2007 Election

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

Timetable

A generic timetable for election year.

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. 

Contact

If you have additional queries, please contact Nelson's Electoral Officer by telephone on +64 3 377 3530 (based in Christchurch).