Elections

The elections give residents and ratepayers the opportunity to vote for who they think will best represent their community as Mayor, Councillor and/or Community Board member.

Local Government Elections are held every three years by postal voting, using the First-Past-the-Post (FPP) voting method. The next local election in the Ōtorohanga District is on Saturday 8 October 2022.

To find out more about what's involved in local elections or if you're interested in running in 2022, take a look at the Taituarā — Local Government Professionals Aotearoa we bsite.

How to Enrol

Ōtorohanga District Residents

If you are an Ōtorohanga District resident and have enrolled on the parliamentary electoral roll for the general election, you are automatically enrolled to vote in the local government elections.
If you:

have not enrolled on the parliamentary electoral roll and would like to enrol,
would like to check if you're enrolled, or
would like to update your contact details,

please visit the Electoral Commission website or phone 0800 36 76 56.

Non-resident ratepayers

If you pay rates on a property in a different district/ward/community to where you live, you may be eligible to enrol on the non-resident ratepayer electoral roll.
A company or society paying land rates also qualifies as a ratepayer elector. Download the form here [PDF 121 KB]

Wards

The Ōtorohanga District is made up of five electoral wards [JPG 698 KB] and one district-wide Māori Ward [JPG 666 KB]. Where you live, determines which ward you get to vote in and how many elected members you get to vote for. The exception to this is your vote for Mayor. Anyone on the Māori electoral roll will have two votes for their preferred candidates for the Māori ward, plus a vote for the Mayor.

The Ōtorohanga District Council election will be for the Mayor and 9 councillors as follows:

Kāwhia/Tihiroa Ward (2 councillors)
Kio Kio/Korakonui Ward (1 councillor)
Ōtorohanga Ward (2 councillors)
Waipā Ward (1 councillor)
Wharepuhanga Ward (1 councillor)
One district-wide Māori Ward - Rangiatea (2 councillors)
Mayor elected at large

Voting and Returns

Your circumstances may permit you to cast a special vote.

For more information on special voting, please follow this link: Electoral Commission - Special Voting

Once voting opens, information on daily-updated voting returns is available using this link: Electionz.com

This link shows return comparisons from previous elections leading back to 2007.

Waikato Regional Council

There are 14 councillors, made up of 12 general seats and two Māori seats. Electors that are on the general roll for national election cast a vote for candidates standing in general seats. Electors that are on the Māori roll vote for candidates standing in the Māori seats.

Find out more here: https://www.waikatoregion.govt.nz/council/about-us/our-council/local-body-elections/