Information for Voters

You can enrol to vote or update your enrolment details at vote.nz. Enrolling is easy to do – it takes 30 seconds to do online.

Enrol online on the Electoral Commission website

You can also:

• email enrol@vote.nz
• call 0800 36 76 56, or
• freetext your name and address to 3676

The last day to enrol to cast an ordinary vote is 1 August 2025.

You can enrol after this date (up until 10 October 2025) but you’ll need to cast a special vote.

Enrolment packs

If you’re enrolled to vote for the parliamentary elections, then you’re automatically enrolled for Council elections too.

If you’re enrolled, you would have received an enrolment update pack in the mail in early April. If all your details are correct then you don’t need to do anything. If you didn’t receive an enrolment update pack, you’re either not enrolled or you need to update your address or enrolment details.

Who can enrol

You can enrol as a resident if you:

• Are 18 years or older
• Are a New Zealand Citizen or permanent resident
• Have lived in New Zealand continuously for 12 months or more at some time in your life.

If you’re unsure where to enrol, you can enrol at the address where you spend a substantial part of your time. You can also enrol at the last residential address where you lived for at least 1 month, even if that was some time ago.

General or Māori roll

If you’re Māori, you can choose to enrol on the General roll or the Māori roll

The Tararua District is divided into three wards - two geographic wards and the Tamaki-Nui-a-Rua Māori ward. Māori roll voters elect a Māori ward councillor, and general roll voters elect general ward councillors in their geographic area.

The last day you can change between rolls is 10 July 2025 for the 2025 local elections. Both residents and non-resident ratepayers can be on the Māori roll.

Voting opens on 9 September and closes at 12 noon 11 October 2025.

If you’re enrolled, check your mailbox for your voting papers between 9 – 22 September 2025. Not everyone in the same household, street or community will receive their voting papers on the same day so please be patient while votes are delivered.

How to return your vote

Post your voting forms or drop them off at an orange voting bin across the district.

Post your vote

Post your completed vote in the freepost envelope using any NZ Post or DX Mail post box. You’ll need to post your vote by 7 October 2025 to ensure it is received on time.

Drop off your vote

There are a number of locations across the Tararua District you can drop off your voting papers.

Orange voting bins

Drop off your forms at one of our orange voting bins across the district. You’ll find bins at our Council Service Centres in Dannevirke, Woodville, Pahiatua and Eketahuna.  We are also working on having orange voting bins at other locations in the district. Votes can be dropped off in the orange voting bins up to 12 noon on Saturday 11 October.

Special Voting

Sometimes you might need to cast what’s called a ‘special vote’. You will need to do this if:

• You didn’t receive your voting forms in your letterbox after 22 September
• You lost or damaged your voting forms
• You enrolled after 1 August 2025
• You are on the unpublished (confidential) electoral roll
• Your enrolled address is out of date, and you have been living at a new address for a month or more

Casting a special vote is easy. Come see the team at one of our Council Service Centres in Dannevirke, Woodville and Pahiatua from 9 September until 12 noon 11 October 2025. It takes less than five minutes to issue a special vote, and you can vote on site or take it away to vote later.

You can also email elections@tararuadc.govt.nz to request a special voting pack. Make sure you do this early in the voting period so you have time to return your vote.

What can you vote for?

No matter where you live in Tararua, you’ll be able to vote for:

• The mayor
• Your local ward councillor(s): If you’re on the general roll, you’ll vote for councillors in your geographic ward. If you’re on the Māori roll, you’ll vote for one councillor in the Māori ward.
• Regional councillors: You can also vote for councillors on the Horizons Regional Council.

Depending on where you live, you might be eligible to vote for:

Community board members for the Dannevirke Community Board or the Eketāhuna Community Board.

Māori ward poll

During the 2025 local elections, you’ll also be asked to vote on whether you want to keep or remove the Tamaki-Nui-a-Rua Māori ward. The outcome of the poll will be implemented in the 2028 local election. This question will be included with your voting papers.

You can find information about the confirmed candidates for the local council election here:

LGE 2025 Information Page

This page will be updated to show confirmed candidates from 4 July 2025.

Come along to one of these "Meet the Candidates Sessions" to find out more about the candidates in your area:

Organising a meet the candidates event? Contact the Deputy Electoral Officer on 06 3744080 or email elections@tararuadc.govt.nz so we can list your event here.