North Shore Times (New Zealand)
What you need to know to have your say
Auckland’s registered voters will soon be getting voting forms in their mailboxes.
The question is what are all these different positions I’m voting on and how do I vote?
This guide isn’t telling you who to vote for, it’s explaining the various voting formats used to fill different roles from the mayor to liquor licensing trusts.
Come October 8, Aucklanders will have chosen from 603 people running for 226 local body positions.
So your voting papers have
It’s straightforward, known as the first-past-the-post voting system, you get to choose one of 19 candidates running this year. The candidate with the most votes wins. Voting for ward councillors Voters qualify for voting in one of Auckland’s 13 geographical wards. 20 ward councillors sit on Auckland Council’s Governing Body with the mayor.
Depending on the size of your ward, you get to choose up to two candidates using first-past-the-post voting.
Voting for local board members Like wards, voters qualify to vote in one local board area, Auckland region has 21 local boards. Like ward voting, local board voting also uses first-past-the-post but there are more positions to fill. Auckland’s local board sizes currently range from 5 to 9 members. Waitemata, Auckland and CountiesManukau each has seven elected positions to fill using the single transferable voting system.
Voters rank their DHB choices in order of preference, if clear winners aren’t found on the first round, descending preferences are counted to determine the winning candidates.
Once the winning elected candidates are found, central government appoints four more
DHB members to each DHB.
Liquor Licensing Trusts Depending on where you live you may be eligible to vote on who gets elected to one of Auckland’s five Liquor Licensing Trusts.
Go to aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/ EN/licencesregulations for more information on the trusts.
Apart from doing your own research, a handy booklet is supplied with voting papers containing a statement from each candidate standing in your area. More handy information Auckland Council provides information on its governance structure and elections, go to aucklandcouncil.govt.nz/EN/ AboutCouncil/HowCouncilWorks or phone 09 301 0101.
The Electoral Commission offers tons of information and advice while also helping you enrol correctly and getting your voting papers, go to elections.org.nz or phone 0800 36 76 56.