11.3 Election administration

Running the elections

Auckland Council is required to appoint an electoral officer to exercise the powers and carry out election-related duties as established and mandated by the Local Electoral Act 2001 [1].  

Most councils in New Zealand use a contracted private company to manage the processing of nominations and votes and typically appoint either a staff member or the principal of that company as electoral officer.  

Auckland Council has contracted Independent Elections Services to run its local elections, and the Governing Body appointed Dale Ofsoske, a director of Independent Election Services, as the electoral officer. He in turn appointed Warwick Mc Naughton, Principal Advisor Governance, as the deputy electoral officer. These appointments continue until the electoral officer is replaced.  

Duties of electoral officer and officials

 The electoral officer has the powers and duty to [2]: 

The electoral officer is required to appoint a deputy electoral officer to perform these duties if he/she becomes incapable of doing so. The deputy electoral officer has the full powers of an electoral officer and must continue to act until the electoral officer regains capability or a new electoral officer is appointed [3].  

Electoral officials must make declarations before they can fulfil their duties under the Local Electoral Act [4]. Declarations remain current until 31 January of the year of the next election [5].  

To prevent any political intervention in the elections process, the exercise of powers under the act is legally protected from any direction by the Governing Body or local boards [6]. The electoral officer, deputy electoral officer, and other electoral officials perform their functions and duties independently of the council. Candidates for election cannot be appointed or act as electoral officials [7]. 

The chief executive should not act as an electoral official unless there are no other reasonably practicable options available [8]. The council’s Chief Executive is responsible for facilitating and fostering representative and substantial elector participation in elections, under section 42 of the Local Government Act 2002. 

Key dates for an elections period

Each election has a number of key dates to enable best practice and ensure legislative and procedural timeframes are met.

Local board areas, subdivisions and number of members

Date Activity

Not later than 28 days before the earlier of the close of the roll or the close of nominations [9] 

 Public notice of election calling for nominations and announcing roll open

57th day before election day [10]

 Nominations close

Between 17–23 days prior to election day [11] 

 Delivery of voting documents

Second Saturday in October [12]

 Election day

For booth voting, 7pm on election day; for postal voting, 12pm on election day [13] 

 Voting closes

As soon as practicable after all valid votes have been counted [14]

 Public notice of declaration of results

Within 55 days after election results are declared [15] 

 Return of election expenses and donations form 

Footnotes

[1] Local Electoral Act 2001, section 12(1) 

[2] Local Electoral Act 2001, sections 15 to 19 

[3] Local Electoral Act 2001, section 13 

[4] Local Electoral Act 2001, section 14(2) 

[5] Local Electoral Act 2001, section 14(3) 

[6] Local Electoral Act 2001, section 14(1) 

[7] Local Electoral Act 2001, section 14(4) 

[8] Local Electoral Act 2001, section 14(5) 

[9] Local Electoral Act 2001, section 52 

[10] Local Electoral Act 2001, section 5 

[11] Local Electoral Regulations, clause 51 

[12] Local Electoral Act 2001, section 10 

[13] Local Electoral Act 2001, section 5 

[14] Local Electoral Act 2001, section 86 

[15] Local Electoral Act 2001, section 112A