How to Vote | Me pēhea te pōti

If you’re enrolled, check your mailbox for your voting forms between 16 and 21 September 2022.

Returning your vote

Complete your voting forms and return them using one of the following: 

• to any of our specially marked ballot boxes in local supermarkets and libraries across Porirua City.
• to our Council Building at 16 Cobham Court, Porirua
• to the regional voting hub at Te Pokapū Hapori Community Centre at 107 Manners Street 
• to any Porirua City Library – Find your nearest library and its opening hours
• After Tuesday 4 October, we recommend not putting your vote into a post box, as it may not reach us in time.

A map of ballot boxes at libraries and supermarkets is below:

A list of ballot box locations can be found here.

Special Voting

Sometimes you might need to cast a ‘special vote’. You will need to do this if you: 

• Didn’t receive your voting forms in your letterbox by 22 September 2022
• Lost or damaged your voting forms 
• You enrolled after 12 August 2022 
• You are on the unpublished (confidential) electoral roll 
• Your enrolled address is out of date, and you have been living at a new address for a month or more 

Casting a special vote is easy and requires you to complete a simple declaration, which we can help you with.

We can issue you a special vote at our Council Front Counter at 16 Cobham Court, Porirua, or you can email [email protected] or call 0800 922 822 and our Electoral Officer can help. 

Single Transferable Vote (STV) voting  

Voting for the Porirua City Council elections is done via the STV method, where voters rank candidates in order of preference. On your voting paper, put a ‘1’ next to your favourite candidate, ‘2’ next to your second favourite, and so on.  

You can rank as many or as few candidates as you wish, just don’t skip a number. More information on how STV works can be found on the STV website.

Who can you vote for?  

Mayor and Council:

No matter where in Porirua City you live, you can vote for who you want to be the city’s Mayor and for your ward councillors.  

Greater Wellington Regional Council:

You can also vote for two councillors in the Porirua-Tawa Constituency of the Greater Wellington Regional Council.  

Hutt Mana Charitable Trust:

You can also vote for the Hutt Mana Charitable Trust.  

More info on the wards in Porirua City can be found on our wards page.

If you need help filling in your voting document 

If you’re physically impaired, unable to read or write or are not familiar with the language on the form, you may need help to vote. You can authorise someone you trust to mark the voting document for you following your instructions.  You can also come to the Council Front Counter at 16 Cobham Court, Porirua and get help from elections staff.