Information for Voters
The next local government elections are being held later this year, on Saturday 11 October.
Make sure you're enrolled by 1 August 2025. It's easy to do, head to vote.nz to get it sorted. If you haven't enrolled by 1 August, you'll need to complete a 'special vote' (learn more below).
If you're enrolled and ready to go, you'll receive your voting packs between 9 and 22 September.
📬 You can do a postal vote - just make sure to send it before 7 October so it arrives on time.
🗳️ Otherwise, you can drop your completed vote into one of our orange voting bins up until 12 noon on Saturday 11 October 2025.
Location of Orange Voting Bins
- Scandi Superette 19 Coronation Street, Norsewood
- Dannevirke Service Centre 26 Gordon Street, Dannevirke
- Pongaroa Cafe and General Store 10818 Route 52, Pongaroa
- Woodville Service Centre and Library 45 Vogel Street, Woodville
- Pahiatua Service Centre 136 Main Street, Pahiatua
- Eketāhuna Service Centre and Library 31 Main Street, Eketāhuna
Recently added locations:
- Dannevirke New World 25 Denmark Street, Dannevirke
- Pahiatua New World 103 Main Street, Pahiatua
- Four Square Eketāhuna 27 Main Street, Eketāhuna
- Woodville Four Square 90 Vogel Street, Woodville
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.
View Confirmed Candidates for 2025 Local Elections
You'll also be voting on the 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.
Meet the Candidates
Come along to one of these "Meet the Candidates Sessions" to find out more about the candidates in your area:
| Date | Time | Candidates | Organised by | Venue |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 12 August 2025 | 7:00pm | South Ward | Positively Woodville Community Committee Inc | Village Hall |
| 16 August 2025 | 1:00pm | Horizons Regional Constituency | It's in the Ballot | Dannevirke Town Hall - Auditorium |
| 16 August 2025 | 3:00pm | Dannevirke Community Board | It's in the Ballot | Dannevirke Town Hall - Auditorium |
| 16 August 2025 | 4:00pm | North Ward | It's in the Ballot | Dannevirke Town Hall - Auditorium |
| 16 August 2025 | 7:00pm | Mayoralty | It's in the Ballot | Dannevirke Town Hall - Auditorium |
| 19 August 2025 | 7:00pm | Mayoralty, Tamaki Nui-a-Rua Ward, Horizons Regional Council Tararua Constituency | Positively Woodville Community Committee Inc | Village Hall |
| 01 September 2025 | 6:00pm | Tamaki Nui-a-Rua Ward, North Ward candidates | Dannevirke Chamber of Commerce | Dannevirke Regent Cinema |
| 03 September 2025 | 3:00pm | Eketāhuna Community Board | It's in the Ballot | Eketāhuna Community Centre |
| 03 September 2025 | 4:00pm | South Ward | It's in the Ballot | Eketāhuna Community Centre |
| 03 September 2025 | 7:00pm | Tamaki Nui-a-Rua Ward | It's in the Ballot | Eketāhuna Community Centre |
| 08 September 2025 | 6:30pm | Mayoralty, North Ward, Tamaki Nui-a-Rua Ward, Dannevirke Community Board, Horizons Regional Council Tararua Constituency | Pongaroa Way to Go Committee | Pongaroa Hall |
| 10 September 2025 | 7:00pm | Mayoralty, South Ward, Tamaki Nui-a-Rua Ward, Horizons Regional Council Tararua Constituency | Explore Pahiatua Community Committee Inc | Bush Community Centre |
| 14 September 2025 | 2:00pm | Mayoral, Northern Ward, Tamaki Nui-a-Rua and Dannevirke Community Board candidates | Southern Hawke's Bay Anglican Parish | St John's Church, High Street, Dannevirke |
| 16 September 2025 | 6:30pm | Tamaki Nui-a-Rua Maori Ward and Horizons Regional Council candidates | Eketahuna Our Town | Eketahuna Community Centre |
| 16 September 2025 | 7:30pm | Mayoral Candidates | Eketahuna Our Town | Eketahuna Community Centre |
| 17 September 2025 | 6:30pm | South Ward Candidates | Eketahuna Our Town | Eketahuna Community Centre |
| 25 September 2025 | 4:30pm | Mayoralty, North Ward, Tamaki Nui-a-Rua Ward | Community members | Makirikiri Marae, Makirikiri Road, Dannevirke |
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.
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.
Choosing between 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 (North and South), 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.
For the 2025 local elections, the last day you can change between rolls is 10 July 2025. Both residents and non-resident ratepayers can be on the Māori roll.
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.
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 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.
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 Eketāhuna. We are also working on having orange voting bins at other locations in the district - to be confirmed.
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.