11.6 Voting in local elections

Who is eligible to vote 

The electoral roll for a local election includes residential and ratepayer electors. 

Residential roll

A person is qualified to vote in Auckland’s local elections as a residential elector if they are enrolled on the parliamentary electoral roll for the area [1]. To be eligible for enrolment, a person must be [2]: 

• be 18 years old or older 
• currently live in New Zealand 
• be a New Zealand permanent resident or citizen 
• hold an open-ended resident visa (a resident visa with no end date) 
• have been living in New Zealand continuously for 12 months or more. 

The enrolment process is the same as for national elections [3].  

Ratepayers roll  

A person who owns property within the Auckland Council area but who lives outside this area (and is on the electoral roll at a residence outside the area) can enrol as a ratepayer elector for the election of the mayor and Governing Body members [4]. A person who owns property within a local board area but who lives outside the local board area can enrol as a ratepayer elector for the election of the local board members.  

To go on the ratepayer roll, a person needs to apply to the electoral officer for the local council area in which he/she owns property but does not usually live. The electoral officer will send a form to complete, sign and return to check eligibility.  

Voting methods

The authorised voting methods for local elections are postal voting, booth voting or a combination [6]. Auckland Council’s elections are held by postal vote. The postal voting period starts approximately four weeks in advance of election day. Voting papers are posted to all enrolled voters at the start of the voting period and need to be returned to the Electoral Officer by the close of voting. 

Special voting situations

In some cases, voters may not receive their voting papers in the mail and will need to vote via a special vote. This could be: 

• voters registered on the unpublished electoral roll [5]. 
• voters who weren’t enrolled or didn’t have up-to-date enrolment details prior to the final roll being compiled  
• voters who lost or spoilt their voting documents 
• voters with disabilities who are unable to mark their voting papers without assistance and with to vote via phone dictation. 

Voters who are overseas can take part in local elections. They must ensure they are correctly enrolled with an overseas postal address to receive their voting papers. Voting papers for local elections cannot be downloaded and votes cannot be returned via email. 

Electoral systems

First past the post (FPP)

The FPP electoral system is used for Auckland Council elections (mayor, ward councillors and local board members) and the five licensing trust elections. Under this system, a voter ticks the circle next to the candidate they wish to elect, the candidate(s) with the most votes wins [7]. 

Single transferrable vote (STV)

The STV is another electoral system available, but not currently used for Auckland elections.  

Under the STV system, a voter ranks as few or as many candidates as he or she likes [8]. First preferences are counted and any candidate whose votes exceed a set amount is elected. If all positions are not filled, the surplus proportion of votes for successful candidates are redistributed among the other candidates according to voters’ preferences. If the positions are not filled, the candidate with the fewest votes is excluded and the second preferences of those who voted for that candidate are counted. This process of redistributing votes continues until all positions are filled.

Visit Single Transferrable Vote website for more information on how STV works. 

Order of candidate names on voting documents

The council may resolve that candidate names are arranged on the voting document in alphabetical order of surname, pseudo-random order or random order. With: 

• pseudo-random order of names, the same random order appears on each voting document 
• random order of names, a different random order appears on each voting document. 

Auckland Council has used alphabetical order printing to date for mayoral, ward councillor and local board member candidates. 

Alphabetical order is easier to use and understand and matches the way candidate names are displayed in the candidate directory. 

A potential disadvantage of alphabetical order printing is that there is some documented evidence, mainly from overseas, of voter bias to those at the top of a voting list. This analysis of booth voting is based on the impact on vote share and election outcome.  

Auckland’s local elections are administered by postal voting which allows for a more considered approach than booth voting. Analysis of previous election results shows that any potential advantage to those at the top of alphabetical voting lists is very small. 

The licensing trusts make their own decisions about the order of names.   

Footnotes

[1] Local Electoral Act 2001, section 23 

[2] Electoral Act 2001, section 74 

[3] http://www.elections.org.nz/voters/enrol-check-or-update-now/how-enrol 

[4] Local Electoral Act 2001, section 24 

[5] Local Electoral Act 2001, section 21 

[6] Local Electoral Act 2001, sections 5 and 36 

[7] Local Electoral Act 2001, section 5A 

[8] Local Electoral Act 2001, section 5B