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.

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. 

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.

• Learn more about the Non-Resident Ratepayer Roll (pdf, 472 KB)

Non-resident ratepayer enrolment forms are available: 

• Enrolment Form for Ratepayer Electors 2020 (pdf, 210 KB)); or
• from the Electoral Officer (phone 03 543 8987/email trudi.zawodny@tasman.govt.nz) 

Electoral roll

The final electoral roll will be displayed at the Richmond Council offices. If you wish to check if you are on the roll, please contact the 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 8987, or emailing trudi.zawodny@tasman.govt.nz

You'll receive your voting documents in the post in the weeks before the voting period opens. 

• The voting period will be notified as part of the Notice of Election.
• POST your completed voting documents in a NZ Post Box using the pre-paid envelope included with your voting document.  NZ Post Boxes can be found in the following locations:
  •  Sandy Bay/Marahau Road
  • Kaiteriteri/Sandy Bay Road
  • 408 Main Road, Riwaka
  • 123 High Street, Motueka
  • 466 High Street, Motueka
  • 131 King Edward Street, Motueka
• If you still haven't voted by the day of the election, we recommend you drop your completed voting papers into the after-hours box at the Council office, rather than posting it.

To be counted, all completed voting documents must be in the hands of the Electoral Officer by 12 noon on election day.

Results will be posted on our website as soon as possible after voting closes.  The first set of results (progressive results) should be available by 2pm on election day, and the second set (preliminary results) by 6pm the following day. The final count will be published approximately 3 days later.

At election time, these dates and times will be specified.

Voting in person - Due to COVID-19 restrictions, this is not an available option

Special votes

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.

Special votes can be requested by contacting the Electoral Officer on 03 543 8987/email trudi.zawodny@tasman.govt.nz and these will be posted out to electors.

To be counted, all completed voting documents must be in the hands of the Electoral Officer by 12 noon on election day.

Results will be published on our website as soon as possible after voting closes.  The first set of results (progressive results) should be available by 2pm on election day, and the second set (preliminary results) by 6pm on the following day. The final count will be published approximately 3 days later.

At election time, these dates and times will be specified.

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.