Wards are made so that Councillors can best represent you and your community at Council.
If you’re enrolled on the General Electoral Roll, your ward areas are determined by where you’re registered to vote. You can only vote for Councillor candidates from the area your address is registered.
If you're enrolled on the Māori Electoral Roll, your ward covers the whole of Porirua. You can only vote for Councillor candidates running for the Māori Ward position.
Because the Mayor’s role in Porirua-wide, the list of mayoral candidates will be the same for all Porirua residents.
The boundaries for General wards are related to Porirua’s population. The number of Councillor positions available in any ward is based on the population number and our enrolment numbers. We conduct a review of these ward boundaries and population every six years called a representation review. Our next one will be in 2027.
Representation reviews offer a chance for us to look at the current wards and positions available in each ward to make sure that they fairly and effectively represent Porirua's population.
To reflect changes in the population and to better achieve a fair ratio of elected members for the population, a review may change the general ward boundaries or the number of Councillors in a ward.
There are some exceptions for communities that have either a low or high population within them but share a common community aspect (such as an island or an isolated community), meaning that rearranging these areas may misrepresent those communities.
Have a question? Ask us at [email protected]
