Local elections

After an extensive representation review in 2021, current representation of the Whangārei District for the 2022 local elections is as follows:   

Councillors

• 13 councillors in total:
  • 11 general ward councillors elected by ward, by electors enrolled on the general roll
  • 2 Māori ward councilors elected by one district-wide ward, by electors enrolled on the Māori roll
  • The Mayor elected at large.

Wards

Six wards in total:

• Five General Wards:
  • Bream Bay General Ward
  • Hikurangi-Coastal General Ward
  • Mangakahia-Maungatapere General Ward
  • Whangārei Heads General Ward
  • Whangārei Urban General Ward
• One Māori Ward:

• Whangārei District Māori Ward 

You can view more information about our representation arrangements and about our wards by following the links below:

Representation arrangements  

Whangārei District Wards

The Local Electoral Act 2001 allows Councils to use one of the two electoral systems during its elections, First Past the Post (FPP) and Single Transferable Vote (STV).

Whangārei District uses First Past the Post. The electoral system will be reviewed by Council prior to the next local election in 2025.

First Past the Post

Under the First Past the Post (FPP) electoral system, the candidate with the most votes wins. This is a very simple method of electing candidates and is widely used throughout the world.

It was used in New Zealand for Parliamentary elections up until the introduction of MMP (Mixed Member Proportional) in the 1996 general election and has been used by Whangarei District Council since 2001.

With the First Past the Post system:

• Electors place ticks next to the names of their preferred candidate(s), and
• The candidate that received the most votes is declared the winner.

Under First Past the Post, you would place ticks next to the names of three candidates, which means you would have three votes.

You can learn more about First Past the Post on the Department of Internal Affairs website.

First Past the Post (dia.govt.nz)

Single Transferable Vote

Under a Single Transferable Vote (STV) electoral system, voters rank candidates in their order of preference.

With a Single Transferable Vote system:

• Electors rank candidates in their order of preference - '1' for your first choice, '2' for your second choice, '3' for your third choice and so on.
• The number of votes required for a candidate to be elected (called the quota) depends on the number of positions to be filled and the number of valid votes.
• The necessary number of candidates to fill all vacancies is achieved:
  • First by counting of the first preferences;
  • Then by transfer of a proportion of votes received by  any candidate where the number of votes for that candidate exceeds the quota.

You can learn more about Single Transferable Vote on the Department of Internal Affairs website.

Single Transferable Vote (dia.govt.nz)