How to Stand | Me pēhea e tū ai

Community groups from around the city will be hosting "meet the candidates" events, to help voters get to know who is standing this year.

These are listed as they are received on our "meet the candidates" page.

Stand for Porirua City in the local elections to help shape your city, work with your community, and represent its residents.

The Council is governed by 11 elected members who represent the city’s residents and ratepayers. Every three years, voters from the City’s three wards elect 10 councillors. The Mayor is elected by the whole city.

The Wards for 2022 are different from previous elections, as a result of the representation review that was undertaken last year.

Nominations are now closed. You can view a list of confirmed candidates on our candidates page.

Important information to note for candidates:

• You cannot stand for election to both the Porirua City Council (as Mayor or Councillor) and the Greater Wellington Regional Council. 
• You cannot stand for election to more than one ward or constituency of the same authority. This includes the new Parirua Māori Ward.
• Important information to note for c:racts over $25,000 with the Council. However, this may be waived if, before standing, you get approval from the Office of the Auditor-General. 
• If you work at Porirua City Council and are considering standing for election, you might be required to take leave of absence.  
• If you work at Porirua City Council and are elected as the Mayor or a Councillor, you must resign as an employee before taking up the position as an elected member.
• If you wish to list an affiliation to a specific party, you will require authorisation to adopt the affiliation from the party concerned. Affiliation with a political party is not required to stand. 
• Council is responsible for promoting the elections, and not individual candidates.

Further information on standing and elections can be found in our frequently asked questions document, and our factsheet on the 2022 local elections.

Resources to help you stand:

LGNZ Webinars

Local Government New Zealand are hosting a series of Webinars to help candidates stand for election. They have published the first webinar in their "Make a Stand" series. This webinar is on building your campaign and social media skills.

Single Transferable Vote system in Porirua

Gavin Beattie (formerly of the Local Government Commission has written an article on the the functioning of STV in Porirua City.

Protecting yourself against foreign interference

There are threats of foreign interference to the democratic process in the local elections. The Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet (DPMC) has provided information about threats to the 2022 elections.

Local authority candidates and elected members are of interest to foreign states. There are a number of reasons why they target New Zealand but one of them is to influence our democracy. They may want to steer policy making, have access to people in positions of power, gain knowledge of internal operations or get access to sensitive information.

DPMC has provided more information for candidates.

Two candidate information sessions were held in July 2022. A recording of one of the sessions is available below:

The 2022 Candidate Information Handbook is now available to download.

An induction and training programme will be held for successful candidates and includes information on the fundamental functions of council. The time commitment for induction and meetings is likely to be 2-3 days a week following the election through to mid December 2022.

On-going training may require elected members to attend 1-2 day courses or workshops, in addition to meetings, throughout their term of office. The induction programme will begin immediately after the elections.

A draft induction programme has been developed. Please note this programme is subject to change.