Elections Q&A

Last updated: 01 Aug, 2025 10:26am

 

About The Election

Enrolment

Voting

results

Frequently asked questions about local body elections in Carterton.

Frequently asked questions for electors, candidates, and residents. If you can’t find an answer to your question, contact us.

About the Election

 

When is the next Local Government election?

Election Day this year is Saturday 11 October 2025 and voting closes at midday on that day. 

Voting documents will be delivered in the mail between 9 and 22 September 2025.

To ensure postal delivery by 11 October, the final day you can post your vote is Tuesday 7 October 2025.

  • If you are voting after this time, you can deliver your voting paper in the sealed envelope provided to an official orange voting bin up until 12 pm, Saturday 11 October 2025.

Hand delivery of voting documents
If it is your preference, between Tuesday 9 September and up until 12 pm, Saturday 11 October hand delivery of voting documents will be accepted at the main office of the Carterton District Council (during office hours 9 am to 4 pm) and Wairarapa Events Centre in Holloway St. Voting documents can also posted into an orange voting bin (locations to be advertised) up until 12 pm, Saturday 11 October. Please provide this in the sealed envelope.

Who is running the election?

The Carterton District Council Electoral Officer has full responsibility for running the election.

If you have any queries, please contact the Deputy Electoral Officer in the first instance, who can contact the Electoral Officer, as required. 

Robyn Blue – Deputy Electoral Officer:
demservices@cdc.govt.nz
027 444 1561

What type of voting method do you use?

Voting for this election is ‘First Past the Post’ (FPP). Refer below for an explanation of how this works.

What is FPP?

FPP stands for the First Past the Post voting system.  The candidate or candidate(s) that get the most votes win(s).

Under FPP you can vote for as many candidates as you want but no more than the number of positions available on the voting document. 

You put a tick in the circle for the candidates you want to elect.

This system of voting is being used in the Carterton District Council local body elections this year.

What is STV and how do I vote in an STV election?

STV stands for Single Transferable Vote.  STV is a voting system where you can rank as few or as many candidates as you like.  For more information about STV, go to www.stv.govt.nz.

This system of voting is being used for the Greater Wellington Regional Council voting form you will receive.

What issues (elections) can we vote for?

In this coming election Carterton District Council residents can vote for:

  • Mayor – Carterton District Council
  • Councillors (at large) – Carterton District Council (8 positions) – as noted in Q5 you put a tick in the circle of the candidates you wish to select (up to 8 ticks).
  • A Councillor for the Wairarapa constituency of the Greater Wellington Regional Council (one position).
What is an ‘at large’ councillor?

Carterton District Council doesn’t have any wards, so councillors are elected for the whole district (“at large”).

 Councillors of the Greater Wellington Regional Council are elected on a constituency basis. There are 13 councillors and 6 constituencies, of which Wairarapa is one of the constituents with one councillor represented Greater Wellington Regional Council — Representation arrangements (gw.govt.nz).

What is the role of a councillor?

A councillor:

  • Participates in strategic and long-term planning for the whole city/district/region;
  • Participates in setting a budget and rates;
  • Develops policy across a wide range of activities and services;
  • Represents the city/district/region at functions as required;
  • Reviews and develops bylaws for the city/district/region;
  • Advocates on a wide range of issues;
  • Coordinates and forms partnerships with other spheres of government and other agencies;
  • Participates in the appointment and performance review of the Chief Executive Officer;
  • Acts on all these matters within a legislative and regulatory framework;
  • Monitors the performance of the council organisation.

Enrolment

 

Am I eligible to vote?

You’re eligible to enrol and vote if you are

  • 18 years or older
  • a New Zealand citizen or permanent resident, and
  • you’ve lived in New Zealand continuously for 12 months or more at some time in your life.
How do I enrol to vote in these elections?

You’re eligible to enrol and vote if you are:

  • 18 years or older
  • a New Zealand citizen or permanent resident, and
  • you’ve lived in New Zealand continuously for 12 months or more at some time in your life.

You will automatically appear on the Carterton electoral roll that is used for the upcoming local body elections if:

  • Carterton district is your main place of residence
  • You have lived at your current address for more than one month
  • You have enrolled to vote with the Electoral Commission and have identified that you live in Carterton.

However, if you have moved address since the last election, in order to ensure voting papers are received between 9 – 22 September 2025 you will need to update the Electoral Commission with your new address by 1 August 2025.

How to enrol or update your enrolment status (address or occupation etc)

If you aren’t enrolled or aren’t sure, details on how to enrol or change your details on the Electoral Roll are below:

If you own a property in Carterton and it is not your main residence you may be able to enrol as a Ratepayer Elector – refer below.

Similarly, if you own a business in the district and pay rates, but don’t live in Carterton, you may be eligible to vote as a Ratepayer Elector – refer to below.

How do I know whether I am enrolled?

The Electoral Commission will be undertaking a roll update campaign in 2025 in order to ensure the Parliamentary Electoral Roll which forms the basis of electoral rolls for the local authority election is as up-to-date as possible.

You can check your enrolment status on www.vote.nz.

Q11 provides further detail on how you can enrol or update your enrolment status.

I am New Zealand Māori, do I need to enrol on the Māori roll?

The Māori Electoral Option – Te Kōwhiringa Pōti Māori is when Māori voters get to choose whether to be on the Māori roll or the general roll.Y ou have the choice as to whether or not you want to vote for the general or Māori seats.

If you’re of Māori descent, and are enrolling for the first time you can decide whether you want to go on the Māori Electoral Roll or the General Electoral Roll by signing the appropriate panel on the Elector Enrolment form.

If you have already made this choice, you can change rolls at any time except in the 3 months before a parliamentary or local election. The option to change rolls for this year’s local elections will close at midnight, 10 July.

NB that Carterton District Council doesn’t have a Māori Ward in the upcoming Council elections on 11 October, and you will be able to vote for all candidates who are standing.  However, by enrolling on the Māori roll you will be able to vote for those standing in your Māori electorate in the Parliamentary elections in 2026.

I own a property in Carterton but it is not my full-time residence. How do I get on the Ratepayer Electoral Roll?

You need to complete a Ratepayer Enrolment form for Carterton District Council.  This can be found here https://cdc.govt.nz/your-council/elections/.

If you have any questions on eligibility refer to this link Ratepayers Portal (electionz.com) – or contact the Deputy Electoral Officer at Carterton District Council demservices@cdc.govt.nz, 027 444 1561.

Notes

  • If you are the sole ratepayer for the property (i.e. the rate account is only in your name), then you can apply to be the Ratepayer Elector.
  • If you are a joint ratepayer (i.e. the rate account is in more than one name), or the rate account is in the name of a Trust or Company etc, you must appoint a nominee to vote on behalf of the joint ratepayers or entity. For the case of companies, corporations, trusts etc, the nominee should be a member or officer of the entity.

In order to receive voting documents in the mail, the enrolment form should be received by Electoral Officer by 1 August 2025.

If you complete the enrolment form after that time, you will be required to complete a special vote (refer to Q24). The Ratepayer Enrolment Form should be received no later than 4 pm, Friday 10 October 2025. 

If it is easier, you can complete the ratepayer enrolment form and have your special vote at the same time when you come to the Carterton District Council office.

 

We own a business in Carterton and pay rates, but we don’t live in Carterton – do we get a say in the local elections?

Yes, subject to being eligible to become enrolled as a ratepayer elector and becoming enrolled.

The Carterton District Council Ratepayer Enrolment Form can be found here https://cdc.govt.nz/your-council/elections/. 

If you have any questions on eligibility refer to this link Ratepayers Portal (electionz.com) or contact the Deputy Electoral Officer at Carterton District Council demservices@cdc.govt.nz, 027 444 1561.

Note: For a business entity with co-owners – only one person can be nominated to vote. The nomination covers all properties owned by the entity in Carterton.

In order to receive voting documents, your completed form should be received by Electoral Officer by 1 August 2025.

If you complete the enrolment form after that time, you will be required to complete a special vote (refer to Q24). The Ratepayer Enrolment Form should be received no later than 4 pm, Friday 10 October 2025. 

If it is easier, you can complete the ratepayer enrolment form and have your special vote at the same time when you come to the Carterton District Council office.

Where can I view the electoral roll that will be used for this election?

The electoral roll is available at the Carterton District Council office and library. The final roll is distributed on 5 September 2025.

Voting

 

Am I eligible to vote?

You’re eligible to enrol and vote if you are:

  • 18 years or older
  • a New Zealand citizen or permanent resident, and
  • you’ve lived in New Zealand continuously for 12 months or more at some time in your life.
Do I have to vote? I don’t know any of these candidates

No you don’t have to vote.  You also don’t have to vote for all candidates or for all elections (either Mayor or councillors).  But your vote is important because the people elected will be responsible for making decisions about what happens in your community for the next three years.

In order to help you get to know about the candidates:

  • There is a candidate profile booklet that comes out with the voting documents. This information will also be available on the Council website.
  • There may be candidate meetings being held where you can meet the candidates and hear what policies the candidates are advocating for.
  • Candidates often have their own social media page(s), advertise in local newspapers and end out information to letterboxes in your area.
  • The local newspaper will cover information about the election.
How do I return my voting documents?

As this is postal vote, the vote must be received by Saturday 11 October.

In order to ensure postal delivery by 11 October, the final day you can post your vote is Tuesday 7 October 2025.

If you are voting after this time, you can deliver it in the sealed envelope provided an official orange voting bin (locations to be advertised) up until 12 pm, Saturday 11 October 2025. There is a bin at the main office of Carterton District Council, and one at the Wairarapa Events Centre.

I am 17 years old, can I enrol to vote?

Yes. If you’re 17, you can complete an enrolment form now (refer to Q 22 – Checking or updating your enrolment details).

Enrolling early means you will be enrolled and ready to vote from age 18 years onwards.

Your Enrolment Form needs to be with the Electoral Commission before midnight Friday 10 October 2025.

I didn’t get my voting documents, so I called and got a special vote. Now I have two documents. Which one should I use?

Use the original and destroy the special vote. The reason for this is that processing an original voting document is much simpler than processing a special vote. A special vote takes a lot more time and more importantly the elector may not have completed the declaration correctly which could make the special vote invalid – hence our advice/preference that the ordinary vote is returned.

I turn 18 on Election Day. Can I vote?

Yes, but you need to make sure you have enrolled which you can do provisionally from the age of 17 and it automatically changes when you turn 18.

Your Enrolment Form needs to be with the Electoral Commission by midnight, Friday 10 October 2025.

What do I do if I didn’t receive my voting pack?

Resident in Carterton
If voting documents are not received in the mail, it is possible your name is not on the Electoral Roll or documents were delivered to an old address, and you will need to cast a special vote. Refer below for details on Casting a special vote.

If you have never voted, or have moved address, you can enrol / update your details in a number of ways:

However, if it easier you can update your enrolment details and have your special vote at the same time when you come to the Carterton District Council office.

Ratepayers – and Carterton is not your main place of residence
If you are a residential or business ratepayer in Carterton, and Carterton is not your main residence you can complete a Ratepayer enrolment form which will allow you to vote:

  • refer to below questions for ratepayers who own property in the district, but it is not their full-time residence
  • refer to below questions for people who are business owners and don’t live in the district
Where can I cast a special vote?

You can be sent special voting forms in the mail which you will need to return in person to Carterton District Council.

You can also collect them from the Carterton District Council office and vote at the same time.

Visit the Carterton District Council office at 28 Holloway Rd between Tuesday 9 September and Friday 10 October during office hours – 9am to 4 pm.

Special votes will also be accepted on Election Day, Saturday 11 October, from 9am to 12pm.

I have lost my return envelope

You can use an envelope of your own and put the following freepost address on the envelope (NB no stamp is required).

Enrolment documents / change of address details:
Electoral Commission
FREEPOST 2 ENROL
PO BOX 190
Wellington 6140

Voting documents
Contact 0800 EZ VOTE (0800 398 683) for the freepost address.

I received voting documents that don’t belong to me and I don’t know who these people or where they have gone.

Write ‘Gone No Address’ on the envelope and put the letter back in the mail as soon as possible.

Where can I cast a special vote?

If time allows during the voting period, you can be sent special voting forms in the mail which you will need to return in person to Carterton District Council. You can also complete your special voting documents and vote at the same time at:

  • The CDC Main Office at 28 Holloway St between 9 September and Friday 10 October, from 9 am to 4 pm
  • The Wairarapa Events Centre on Saturday 4 October (10 am – 2 pm), and on 11 October (9 am to 12 pm).
Will all my votes be invalid if I don’t vote for all the elections in my voting document?

You can decide not to vote for one or more of the different elections (Mayor and or councillors) on your voting document.  This does not invalidate all your other votes.

What is the barcode that I can see through the return envelope or on the front of the voting document?

It is a legal requirement to scan the barcode number to mark the electoral roll that you have voted so we can ensure that we do not receive two votes from the same person.

How do you ensure the secrecy of my vote?

Secrecy is maintained by the following:

  • Envelopes containing a voting document cannot be opened until there is a JP present. The JP is required to sign off that the processes used by the Electoral Officer met the legal requirements.
  • The voter’s name is not on the voting document.
  • When the envelope is opened the only aspect of the voting form the Electoral Officer is looking for is that the vote for each election is valid. This means that for a ‘first past the post’ (FPP) election they are making sure that the voter’s intention is clear and they have not ticked or marked more than the number of candidates than there are vacancies.
I am on the Unpublished Parliamentary electoral roll and want a special vote.

You can complete a special vote by coming to the main office of Carterton District Council between 9 September and Friday 10 October during office hours (9 am – 4 pm). Special votes will also be taken at the Wairarapa Events Centre on Saturday 4 October (from 10 to 2 pm), and Saturday 11 October from 9 am to 12 pm.

I spoiled my voting documents / I have made a mistake on my documents. What can I do?

If you can amend it so that your voting intention is clear, then do so and initial the changes.

If necessary, we can issue you with a special voting document, but this will require you to complete a declaration.

I am going away and will not be here when the voting documents are posted out.

Contact the Deputy Electoral Officer (demservices@cdc.govt.nz or 027 542 6765) who may be able to arrange for the voting documents to be sent to you.

Can I help someone complete their voting documents?

Under the Local Electoral Act 2001, you cannot interfere or influence any person as to how they can vote.

 If authorised by a voter who is physically impaired, visually impaired or for whom English is a second language, a person can assist them to vote as directed by the voter. An authorisation to do this should be completed (LER 34).

I received voting documents for (children, parent) and have Power of Attorney for them. Can I vote for them?

No – A person with a Power of Attorney can not apply to vote on behalf of that person.

If they are overseas, you could send their documents to them by airmail, or destroy them if that is not practicable. Scanned documents will not be accepted.

If they are for an elderly parent who is unable to vote, please destroy the documents by ripping/cutting them up.

What happens to all the voting documents after the elections?

They are delivered to the District Court and kept for 21 days so that the Court can access them should there be any application for a recount or a petition for inquiry.

 After 21 days, the court is responsible for destroying the voting documents.

Election Results

 

How are candidates advised about the election results?

Candidates will be advised as soon as possible after progress and preliminary results are known.  This may be by email or phone.

When do elected members take up their roles?

Elected members take up office the day after the official result has been declared by public notice.  However, they cannot act until they have sworn the oath of office which is usually at the first meeting of council.  This first meeting is held as soon as practicable after the final election results are known, and is expected to be on Wednesday 29 October 2025.

When will we know the results of the election?

Progress and preliminary results will be announced as soon as possible after 12 noon on Saturday 11 October 2025. This will be available on the Carterton District Council Website – https://cdc.govt.nz/your-council/elections/. 

 The official results will be announced when the final count is complete and special votes have been checked. This will be on 16 October 2025.