Council voting systems
Both the Northland Regional Council and Kaipara District Council use First Past the Post (FPP).
The voting system means the candidate/s with the most votes win.
Both Far North District Council and Whangārei District Council use Single Transferable Voting (STV).
Whangārei District Council made the change this election after having used FPP since 2001.
Under STV, voters are able to rank candidates in terms of preference.
The results of the voting system are said to more likely reflect the preferences of a greater number of voters since other preferences are taken into account.
Voter turnout
Voter turnout for the local elections has reportedly been low around the country.
In Northland, voter turnout in Kaipara was the highest recorded in six years.
Latest data showed 46.5% of Kaipara’s 18,327 voters had had their say on this year’s candidates.
In the Far North, 41.4% of the district’s 48,451 eligible voters had returned their ballot papers.
Whangārei’s voter turnout was last recorded as 36.3% of an eligible 67,004.
The Northland Regional Council has a total of 133,713 voters, 39.6% of whom had done so at last count.
Who are you voting for?
Whangārei had 44 candidates. Five were vying for mayor, and the remaining 31 were eyeing 13 available councillor positions across six wards.
The Whangārei mayoral candidates are: Vince Cocurullo, Ken Couper, Marie Olsen, Brad Flower, and Fiona Green.
In the Far North, there were a total of 66 candidates. Three were for mayor while the others were across 10 councillor positions in four wards and 19 community board member spots.
Far North mayoral candidates are: Moko Tepania, Ann Court, and Joshua Riley.
Kaipara had 32 candidates to choose from for eight positions made up of the mayor and seven councillors across three wards.
Kaipara’s mayoral hopefuls are: Ash Nayyar, Jonathan Larsen, Snow Tane and Jason Smith.
The Northland Regional Council had 23 candidates jostling for nine positions covering six constituencies.
Stay tuned to The Northern Advocate to see results as they land.