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Anyone considering representing their community by standing in October’s local elections has less than two weeks left to submit their nomination to Auckland Council.
In Rodney, there are nine positions on the Local Board and one ward councillor role to be filled.
Board electoral boundaries have shifted since the last local elections in 2022, with five subdivisions now instead of four – Warkworth (two representatives instead of three); Northern Rodney (replacing Wellsford, with two reps instead of one); Dairy Flat (one rep); Southern Kaipara (two reps) and Kumeū (two reps).
Candidates don’t have to live in a subdivision or ward to represent it, and any elected local board members must represent and work on behalf of the whole area and not just their own subdivision.
To be nominated, candidates need to be New Zealand citizens, aged 18 or over and on the NZ electoral roll. Each nomination form needs to have signatures from two voters registered in the area where they are standing, plus a deposit of $200, which is refunded if they poll more than 25 per cent of the lowest successful candidate.
Council’s governance and engagement general manager Lou-Ann Ballantyne is encouraging as many people to stand as possible and to consider how they can best represent their local community.
“I encourage anyone planning to stand to think about their candidate statement, their social media profiles, their community connections, and the issues that matter in their area,” she said.
In total, there are 171 positions for local board members and ward councillors to be filled across Auckland, as well as the mayoralty.
In 2022, 466 Aucklanders stepped up to the plate. Twenty three candidates ran for the position of mayor, 65 stood for ward councillor positions and 378 stood for local boards.
Nominations for this year’s elections are open until midday on Friday, August 1 and, for the first time, can be submitted online. Alternatively, hard copies are available from Auckland Council libraries or downloadable from https://electionservices.co.nz/
Info for candidates and voters: Visit https://voteauckland.co.nz/en.html
