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Auckland CouncilVote Auckland

How to vote in the local elections

What to do if you didn't receive your voting pack in the post

See What to do if you don't receive your voting papers.

How to return your vote

Watch a video on how to vote

 

Read the full transcript of this video.

Watch this video in New Zealand Sign Language

Post your vote

You should post your completed vote using any New Zealand Post box by Tuesday 4 October 2022 so it can reach us before 12 noon on the election day, 8 October 2022.

Drop off your vote

There will be a number of locations throughout the city, including some libraries and service centres, where you will be able to drop off your completed vote.

See Where to drop off your vote for more information.

What our voting boxes look like

Photograph of our new-look voting boxes with a yellow background and text saying "Local elections- drop your vote in here."

​Why we use postal voting

We are unable to run our local elections online at this point in time.

This is due to current electoral legislation set up by central government that only allows booth or postal voting.

Receiving your voting pack in the post

You should have received your voting pack in the mail if you are enrolled as an elector. See How to enrol to vote for more information.

Voting packs were sent to all eligible electors from Friday 16 September 2022 to Wednesday 21 September 2022.

Enrol or update your details before the electoral roll closes

To make sure your voting pack was sent to your current address, you needed to enrol or update your address before Friday 12 August 2022 which is when the electoral roll closed.

You should know

If you didn't enrol to vote or updated your address before 12 August 2022 you will not receive your voting documents in the post.  You can still enrol to vote but you will need to cast a special vote. See Where and how to cast a special vote.

Enrol to vote now

Voters who live overseas

If you live overseas, you can still take part in local elections.

Ensure you are correctly enrolled with your overseas postal address to receive your voting pack.

If you will be travelling during the voting period, you can apply to cast a special vote.

You should know

You can't download voting packs for local elections. You will receive your voting pack in the post.

What your vote may look like

Mock-up of vote showing the candidates and boxes to tick for mayor, ward councillors and local board members.

Photograph of our new-look voting boxes with a yellow background and text saying "Local elections- drop your vote in here.

Steps to complete your vote

  • Receive voting pack in the post

    16 September - 21 September 2022

  • Postal option - Return your completed vote by posting back in NZ Post envelope

    16 September - 4 October 2022

  • Voting box option - Drop your completed vote into one of our voting boxes

    16 September - 8 October 2022

  • Progress results available as soon as possible after the close of voting

    8 October 2022

  • Preliminary results available

    10 October 2022

  • Final count and official results declared in a public notice

    15 October 2022

You should know

You must drop your voting document into one of our voting boxes before 12 noon on Saturday 8 October.

How the winners are decided

All local government organisations holding elections within the Auckland area use the First Past the Post (FPP) electoral system.

Those organisations are:

  • Auckland Council
  • Birkenhead Licensing Trust
  • Mt Wellington Licensing Trust
  • Portage Licensing Trust
  • Waitākere Licensing Trust
  • Wiri Licensing Trust.

To learn more about these Trusts, see About licensing trusts.

First Past the Post electoral system

When voting in a First Past the Post election, you tick the name of the candidate(s) you most prefer, up to the number of vacancies.

When the votes are counted, the candidates with the most votes are elected.

If there is one vacancy, you can only vote for one candidate. If there are three vacancies, you can vote for three candidates, etc.

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