In May 2021, Porirua City Council voted to establish a Māori ward, alongside 34 other Councils who have a Māori ward (32 of these were established in 2021 after the Government removed the binding poll provisions in the Local Electoral Act 2001).
The Parirua Māori Ward provides dedicated Māori representation. While most wards are based on a geographic area, the people voting in the Māori ward are those on the Māori electoral roll.
The one Councillor from the Parirua Māori Ward will be elected by those on the Māori Electoral Roll across the city.
Visit vote.nz, email [email protected], call 0800 36 76 56, or freetext your name and address to 3676 to enrol to vote or to update your enrolment details.
Thursday 30 June 2022: Electoral Commission starts sending out enrolment update packs
Friday 12 August 2022: is the last day to enrol to receive voting papers by mail – otherwise you will need to vote by special vote.
Friday 7 October 2022: is the last day to enrol for the local elections
You can enrol as a resident if you:
If you are of Māori descent and you are enrolling for the first time, you need to choose whether to enrol on the General roll or the Māori roll. If you are on the Māori roll for the parliamentary election, you will be on it for the local body election as well. You have the ability to change rolls every six years during the "Māori Electoral Option", which takes place after each census. The next opportunity to change rolls will be in 2024.
Both residents and non-resident ratepayers can be on the Māori roll.
If you are enrolled to vote, you will get an enrolment pack in the mail in early July. If all your details are correct then you do not need to do anything. If you do not receive an update pack, you are either not enrolled or you need to update your enrolment details.
If you need extra help with enrolling or have accessibility needs, the Electoral Commission can help: Get help to enrol – Electoral Commission
f you’re unsure where to enrol, you can enrol at the address where you spend a substantial part of your time. If you do not have a current fixed address, you can also enrol at the last residential address where you lived for at least 1 month, even if that was some time ago.
Candidate nominations open on 15 July and close at noon on 12 August.
You can stand for Council if you are a New Zealand citizen, aged over 18, and enrolled to vote.
You do not need to be of Māori descent or enrolled on the Māori roll to stand for the Māori ward, and you do not need to live in Porirua city (you will need to declare this on your nomination form).
Complete and submit a nomination form, which will be available here during the nomination period.
You must be nominated by two people enrolled on the Māori roll in Porirua City. There is a deposit of $200 including GST to lodge a nomination for each position you are standing for. The funds must be paid at the same time your nomination is lodged. If you receive more than 25% of the votes of the lowest polling successful candidate, then you will get this deposit back.
When you lodge your nomination, you can optionally provide a recent photo and 150-word candidate profile statement that will be sent out with voting papers.
If you are on the Māori roll, your voting documents will differ from previous elections in that you will vote in the Parirua Māori Ward instead of your previous geography-based ward. Just like the other wards, you will be able to vote for:
Greater Wellington Regional Council does not have a Māori constituency so your vote in their election will be the same as it was previously.
For more information on the voting process in general, please refer to our information for voters page.
