Hoardings for the first local body elections in Tauranga in years. Photo: RNZ / Libby Kirkby-McLeod
Tauranga will choose who will be running their city for the first time in five years on Saturday. Here's everything you need to know ahead of the polls closing at midday.
There are 75 people vying for 10 spots at the Tauranga City Council table.
This year's election will be under a new governance model with a mayor and nine councillors to be elected.
There are 15 mayoral candidates, and some of them are also standing in a ward.
Council candidates are standing in the eight local wards and the Māori ward, Te Awanui. It will be the first time Tauranga has had a Māori ward, which will cover the entire city. People enrolled to vote on the Māori electoral roll can vote in this ward.
Where to vote
Voting papers should have arrived in your mailbox. Completed voting papers can be dropped in the orange voting bins at 40 locations across Tauranga, including every supermarket in the city.
If you don't have your voting papers you will need to cast a special vote at one of four council locations.
- He Puna Manawa Service Centre, 21 Devonport Road: Saturday, 20 July from 9:30am to 12pm.
- Mount Hub, 9 Prince Ave: Saturday, 20 July 9:30am - 12pm.
- Pāpāmoa Community Centre: Saturday 20 July 9:30am - 12pm.
- Greerton Library: Saturday 20 July 9:30am - 12pm.
If you haven't yet enrolled to vote yet, the deadline passed at 5pm on Friday. Voters who enrolled at the last minute can cast a special vote in person at any of the four council voting locations.
Tauranga City Council chief executive Marty Grenfell is encouraging everyone to vote.
"Tell your friends, your whānau and your community groups to choose who they think will best represent them and shape the city they want to see, and then get their votes in," said Grenfell in a statement.
"Tauranga is electing its city leadership for the first time in nearly five years and it's important that as many people as possible vote, so that our new council has a solid mandate from the electorate."
Tauranga electoral officer Warwick Lampp at one of the 40 orange voting bins available in Tauranga. Photo: LDR/ Bay of Plenty Times
How to vote
Tauranga City Council uses the single transferable vote system, which means voters rank their preferred candidates with a number, instead of putting a tick.
Your top candidate will get a 1 beside their name, then you rank each candidate in your preferred order.
You can vote for as many or as few candidates as you wish. If your first pick doesn't get the numbers and is eliminated from the contest, then your vote goes to your second pick, and so on until one candidate has a majority of votes.
Results
After polls close at noon the progress results will be announced after 3pm Saturday.
Progress results don't include the special votes or any voting papers received on Saturday morning, this means the results could change.
On Sunday afternoon the preliminary results will be announced. The results include all ordinary voting papers but not special votes, so the results could change.
The official result will be released on Thursday, 25 July around 3pm. These results are final.
The new mayor and councillors will replace the four-person commission that has been in place since 2021.
LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.