How to enrol and vote

To vote in the local elections, you need to be enrolled on either the residential or ratepayer electoral roll.

You are eligible to enrol if you:

• are 18 years of age or older, and
• are a New Zealand citizen or permanent resident, and
• have lived in New Zealand continuously, at any time, for one year or more, and
• have lived at your current address for more than one month.

You can use this online tool to check if you are eligible to receive a ratepayer vote or enrol as a ratepayer elector. 

Do you live in one area and pay rates on a property in another area? You may qualify to vote in both areas at the next local authority elections.

The place you live makes you a “residential elector”. This is based on the address you have given previously when enrolling. Your voting documents will be sent to this address.

However, if you also pay rates to a different council from where you live, or you pay rates on a property that has a community or local board different from where you live, you may also be eligible to enrol as a ‘non-resident ratepayer elector’.

In order to vote in a different election from where you live, you need to get onto the ‘ratepayer electoral roll’.

How do I know if I am a Ratepayer Elector?

As an individual

You may pay rates on a residential property in another Council area such as a holiday home, rental property, shop, commercial or industrial property.

As a couple or group of people

More than one person may pay rates on the same property in another Council area from where you live, such as partners, joint tenants, or tenants in common who collectively pay rates.

As an organisation

You may pay rates on a property owned by your organisation in another Council area from where you live, such as a firm, company, trust, corporation, society or association.

Nominate one person to be your Ratepayer Elector

Only one person can be the ratepayer elector and you have only one vote in this situation.

The person nominated to being the elector must consent to the nomination and cannot be a ratepayer elector for any other property.

The person nominated and the person nominating:

• must be registered as Parliamentary electors; and
• must live at an address outside that council area where the property is located.

Examples:

My partner and I live in Nelson but have a rental property in Golden Bay.

• Both you and your partner can vote as resident electors in Nelson City Council elections; plus
• One of you can be nominated as a non-resident ratepayer elector and vote in the Tasman District Council elections, including for the Golden Bay Community Board.

I live in Invercargill but my company has a building in Motueka.

• You can vote as a resident elector in Invercargill City Council and Southland Regional Council elections, along with a community board that corresponds to the address you live at.
• A member of your company, living outside of the Tasman District Council area, can be nominated as a non-resident ratepayer elector and vote in the Tasman District Council elections, including for the Motueka Community Board.

Already on the non-resident ratepayer roll?

If you have previously enrolled or were nominated as a ratepayer elector an Enrolment Confirmation Form will be issued in advance of the next local authority elections.

Not on the roll but think you qualify?

New electoral rolls are compiled every three years for local authority elections.

1. Contact the local council you pay your rates to.
2. Confirm you qualify.
3. Ask for an Enrolment Form for Ratepayer Electors or download it here (pdf 166 KB).
4. Complete the form and send it to your local electoral officer to enrol or you can use this online tool to check if you are eligible to receive a ratepayer vote or enrol as a ratepayer elector.

Residential electoral roll 

You are automatically enrolled to vote in the local elections for Tasman District if:

• you are a resident of Tasman District, and
• you are already on the parliamentary electoral roll for the general election, and
• you do not change your residential address within the month prior to election day.

To enrol or change your details

Visit vote.nz or phone 0800 36 76 56 if:

• you are not on the parliamentary electoral roll in the Tasman region and want to enrol, or
• if you're not sure if you're enrolled and want to check, or
• you need to update your details. 

You can also text your name and address to 3676 to have an enrolment form sent via mail.

Non-resident ratepayer electoral roll

If you pay rates on a property in a different area to where you live, you may also be eligible to enrol on the non-resident ratepayer roll. You need to apply to be on this roll.  Unlike the residential roll, enrolment is not automatic.

A company or society that pays property rates can also qualify as a ratepayer elector.

Non-resident ratepayer enrolment forms are available: 

• Enrolment Form for Ratepayer Electors (pdf 166 KB) or
• from the Deputy Electoral Officer (phone 03 543 8569 or email [email protected])

You can use this online tool to check if you are eligible to receive a ratepayer vote or enrol as a ratepayer elector. 

Electoral roll

The final electoral roll will be displayed at Council offices and libraries. If you wish to check if you are on the roll, please contact the Deputy Electoral Officer.

Every person included on the final roll will receive voting documents via the post.

If you forgot to update your details in time for inclusion on the final roll, you can apply for a Special Vote by contacting the Electoral Officer, and one will be sent out to you.

The Electoral Officer can be contacted during normal working hours by phoning 03 543 8400. 

The next local government elections will be held in 2025.

Special votes are available for those electors:

• whose names do not appear on the final electoral roll, but who qualify as electors;
• who did not receive a voting document;
• who spoil or damage a voting document previously posted to them;
• whose name appears on the unpublished electoral roll.

Special votes require the completion of a statutory declaration. This is a legal requirement and protects against possible duplicate voting.

Returned voting documents can be opened and processed (but not counted) during the three-week voting period, prior to the close of voting (sec 80 LEA). 

Processing involves opening the envelopes, extracting the voting document and electronically recording the votes for each candidate. Voting documents are kept in secure storage when not being processed. Each voting document is processed twice, the second time by a different operator from the first. This is to check the accuracy of the first processing.

All early processing is carried out in the presence of a Justice of the Peace, who must certify that the whole process has been carried out in compliance with the relevant Acts and Regulations.

The First Past the Post (FPP) electoral system is used for Tasman District Council elections and by-elections.

In the FPP system, electors vote by indicating their preferred candidate(s). The candidate(s) that receives the most votes is declared the winner, regardless of the proportion of votes that candidate(s) received.