To vote in a local body election, you need to be enrolled on either the residential or ratepayer roll.

To enrol or update your details:

• Visit Vote.nz and use your New Zealand driver license, New Zealand passport or RealMe verified identity to enrol online.
• Call free 0800 36 76 56 and ask for a form to be sent to you.

You are eligible to enrol on the residential roll 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 roll

All parliamentary electors are automatically enrolled on the local body residential roll at the address where they live.

Any changes to the residential roll (e.g. change of address details) should be made by:

• Completing the appropriate form at any NZ Post Shop
• Telephoning 0800 ENROLNOW (0800 367 656)
• Visiting Nelson Public Libraries
• Accessing the Enrolment Services, Electoral Commission website on www.elections.org.nz

Ratepayer roll

If a person is on the parliamentary roll in one area and pays rates on a property in another area, they may be eligible to be enrolled on the non-resident ratepayer roll.

A firm, company, corporation or society paying rates on a property may nominate one of its members or officers as a ratepayer elector (providing the nominated person and the nominee both reside outside the area).

Visit votelocal.co.nz for more information.

Enrolling to vote if you are Māori

If you're of Māori descent and enrolling for the first time, you can decide whether to go on the general roll or the Māori roll.

Your choice will affect which electorate you vote in at the general and local elections. Visit Vote.nz for more information. https://vote.nz/enrolling/get-ready-to-enrol/gener...

Local government voting is done using post or by dropping off at an approved location.

You can post your Vote using the envelope provided (last date for postal voting is Monday 3 October) at NZ Post street receiver locations or by dropping it into a Nelson City Council ballot bin at the following places:

• Nelson City Council Customer Service Centre, Civic House, 110 Trafalgar Street, Nelson
• Elma Turner Library, 27 Halifax Street, Nelson
• Stoke Library, 35 Putaitai Street, Stoke
• Nightingale Memorial Library, 2 Beach Road, Tāhunanui
• Founders Heritage Park, Windmill, 87 Atawhai Drive, The Wood
• Tāhunanui Community Hub, reception, 55/61 Muritai Street, Tāhunanui
• Habitat for Humanity Hub, reception, 166 Tāhunanui Drive, Tāhunanui
• Victory Community Centre, 2 Totara Street, Nelson South

For the 2022 local election, Nelsonians will vote using a Single Transferable Vote system, or STV for short.

Watch our explanation on how this system works or visit stv.govt.nz for more information.

Elections are an important way you can make a difference by voting or representing our community as a candidate.

For Nelson City Council, the community will be electing a Mayor and 12 councillors through a mixed-ward system.

The wards are broken down as follows:

Central Ward – comprises the northern, central and eastern parts of the region.
Stoke-Tāhunanui Ward – comprises the southern urban part of the region.
Whakatū Māori Ward - encompasses the full Nelson city electoral boundary for those on the Māori electoral roll.

View an interactive map of the ward boundaries.

People on the general roll will be able to vote for the Mayor and four general ward councillors in their ward, in addition to three “at large” councillors.

People on the Māori roll will be able to vote for the Mayor, one Māori ward councillor and three “at large” councillors.

There are occasions when some voters may need to complete a special vote, rather than use the voting documents that are sent through to most voters by post.

You may apply for a Special Vote if you:

• Were not on the Parliamentary Roll before 12 August 2022, or
• Are away during the voting period, or
• Are on the Unpublished Roll, or
• If you haven’t received your voting papers by 23 September 2022, or
• If you spoil your voting paper and cannot make your voting intention clear.

If you enrolled as a parliamentary elector before 12 August 2022, your Local Government Election voting documents will be sent through the post to you.

If you haven’t enrolled as a parliamentary elector yet, it’s still not too late, you can enrol any time up until Friday 7 October 2022 at the address you have lived at for at least one month. Once you have enrolled, you can apply for a Special Vote to vote in the Local Elections.

You can enrol or amend your address details online at www.elections.org.nz or by phoning 0800 36 76 56.

Special Voting for the 2022 triennial local body elections will take place between Friday 16 September and noon on Saturday 8 October 2022.

You can request a Special Vote or find out more information about special voting by contacting the Nelson City Council office on:

• Telephone: 03 546 0200
• Email: elections@ncc.govt.nz
  
• In person: At the Council Customer Service Centre which is located at the corner of Trafalgar and Halifax Streets.

Once completed, you can post your Special Vote in the envelope provided (last date for postal voting is Monday 3 October) or drop it into a ballot box at the following places:

• Nelson City Council Customer Service Centre, Civic House, 110 Trafalgar Street, Nelson
• Elma Turner Library, 27 Halifax Street, Nelson
• Stoke Library, 35 Putaitai Street, Stoke
• Nightingale Memorial Library, 2 Beach Road, Tāhunanui
• Founders Heritage Park, Windmill, 87 Atawhai Drive, The Wood
• Enner Glynn School, reception, 10 The Ridgeway, Stoke
• Tāhunanui Community Centre, reception, 55/61 Muritai Street, Tāhunanui
• Habitat for Humanity Hub, reception, 166 Tāhunanui Drive, Tāhunanui
• Victory Community Centre, 2 Totara Street, Nelson South

If you live and vote in one council district, but also pay rates on a property in another district, you may be eligible to enrol as a non-resident ratepayer elector in that other council district.

If your council district has community or local boards established, and you are a residential elector in one community or local board area and pay rates on a property in another community or local board area, you may be eligible to enrol as a ratepayer elector in that other community or local board area.

A firm, company, trust, corporation or society which pays rates on a property may nominate one of its members or officers as a non-resident ratepayer elector, provided that the nominator and the person nominated are both registered as Parliamentary electors at addresses which are outside the council district within which the property is situated.

In the case of partners, joint tenants and tenants in common, who collectively pay rates on a property, one of the group may be nominated to be entered on the ratepayer electoral roll. Again, the nominated person and the nominator must be registered as Parliamentary electors at addresses which are outside the council district within which the property is situated.

Note: The term 'council district' includes a city, district and regional council area.

ELIGIBILITY TO ENROL OR BE NOMINATED WILL DEPEND ON INDIVIDUAL CIRCUMSTANCES

In each case only one ratepayer elector can be nominated, irrespective of the number of properties owned by the firm, company, society, trust, partnership or ratepayer in a council district.

New Ratepayer Electors

If you think you may be eligible to enrol or to nominate a person for the ratepayer electoral roll, you will need to obtain an Enrolment Form for Ratepayer Electors from the city or district council to which you pay your rates. If you are on the Parliamentary electoral roll you will automatically be on the local authority residential electoral roll.

The ratepayer electoral roll for the 2022 Election closes on 12 August 2022. Any future changes will not come into effect for the 2022 Election.

Download the Ratepayer Enrolment Form (170KB PDF) or visit the new online ratepayer portal.

Non-resident ratepayer enrolment forms will be available from Civic House, from the Electoral Officer (phone 03 377 3530) and Nelson Public Libraries.