Voter packs for this year’s local elections will be mailed out to enrolled electors from 9 September, and the Dunedin City Council is encouraging residents to make sure they’re enrolled – and their postal addresses are up to date – so they receive these on time.
To enrol, applicants must be 18 or older, New Zealand citizens or permanent residents, and have lived in New Zealand for more than one year continuously at some time.
Voting rights are determined by the elector’s address. All residential electors within the DCC area will receive voting papers that allow them to vote for the mayor of Dunedin, 14 city councillors and up to five councillors for the Otago Regional Council.
If their place of residence falls within one of the six community board areas in the city, electors will also be able to vote for six local community board members. The Oamaru Licensing Trust area extends into the northern part of the city, so electors in that area will have the opportunity to vote for five members of the Trust.
“We’re urging all eligible Dunedin voters to make sure they’re enrolled to vote in the October elections. It’s quick and easy to check your details or enrol online at vote.nz,” says Anthony Morton, DCC’s Electoral Officer.
“In the 2022 local elections, there were more than 96,000 Dunedin voters enrolled to vote, with a 49.9% return rate. We’d love to see even more Dunedin voters turn out and have their say this year.”
Voters can enrol at any time, however anyone who enrols after 1 August will need to cast a special vote. Those who enrol before 1 August will receive their voting papers by post in September.
Anyone with concerns about being listed on the published electoral roll can apply to go on the confidential unpublished roll: Can you go on the unpublished roll? | Vote NZ
For more information about enrolling to vote in this year’s local elections, please visit www.dunedin.govt.nz/council/electoral-information