Missed deadline, communication errors, withdrawn nominations upset candidates

There were four nominations for Dannevirke Community Board once the reviews were completed. Photo / NZME

Two potential candidates for the upcoming elections in Tararua district are asking questions after their nominations were withdrawn.

Craig Ellmers was disappointed after his nomination for Dannevirke Community Board was withdrawn. Photo / Leanne Warr

Hamish McIntyre and Craig Ellmers both submitted nominations for the Dannevirke Community Board under the Dannevirke Ratepayers and Residents Association.

Hamish McIntyre had also submitted a nomination for the community board. Photo / Leanne Warr

But their submission missed the noon deadline by three minutes, leaving them feeling embarrassed and needing an explanation for the team backing their nominations.

Ellmers said he was mystified as at first the nominations seemed to have been accepted and were subsequently published on the council website.

However, on Monday, those nominations were withdrawn and both names were taken off the list.

They were not told of the withdrawal until Monday afternoon.

Now both men are left wondering why and feeling concerned that council processes were not as robust as they should be.

Ellmers said he had a conversation with the council electoral officer around the possibility that one candidate had been barely on time for their nomination and wanted more information on dates and times nominations had been submitted.

However, the major issue was whether council had communicated with either of them when it was discovered there had been a problem with their nominations.

Ellmers said the decision to run had not been made until a committee meeting and while he had his documentation ready at least three days before the deadline, McIntyre hadn't paid the fee or sent in the documents until the Thursday night, a little more than 12 hours before the deadline.

However, he forgot to include the nomination forms.

Ellmers acknowledged that was a fault on their part and that it should have been done earlier.

The council officer told them they had sent an email to McIntyre asking about the nomination forms, but it was not certain whether they had sent it to the right person.

Ellmers questions why there was no follow up with a phone call and McIntyre didn't learn there was an issue until half an hour before the deadline.

The officer told him the profiles were too long and the photos were in the wrong format.

Ellmers believed they could have met the deadline had they been told they could send in the nomination forms separately and then resend the other documents in the correct format later, but said no mention of that was made at the time.

The guide states: "When you submit your nomination form you should also provide the electoral officer with a recent photograph of yourself and a 150-word profile statement. These will be published in a booklet and sent out with the voting documents."

Ellmers believed the council had a "duty of care" to ensure that candidates sent in the right information by the deadline and to communicate any problems within an appropriate timeframe.

He was left feeling very disappointed in the whole process.

He acknowledged there had been errors on their part but felt they'd still received incorrect information or instructions which had created additional problems.

According to the electoral officer with Elections NZ, Warwick Lampp, he had to go with the law, even though Ellmers felt there had been culpability on the side of the council.

"I'm so disappointed. I didn't put my name forward in something lightly. I think that the electoral side of it at Tararua District Council has not helped us. They should have picked up the phone and rang Hamish."

Bryan Nicholson says candidate briefings were very clear about not leaving nominations until the last minute. Photo / Leanne Warr

Council chief executive Bryan Nicholson said the decision for withdrawal was made by Lampp, on the basis of the applications being late, but that was only after a review had been completed by Monday.

He said the council had received some documents about 10pm on Thursday, but the nomination forms were missing.

He acknowledged there had been an error with the email address but the council officer had a number of applications to review and it wasn't possible to follow up with every one of them if there had been any problems.

There had been two candidate briefings in the district prior to the closing date and those interested in running also had the opportunity to talk to the council and pick up candidate packs.

Those briefings emphasised the need for candidates to get their nomination forms in with plenty of time to spare, rather than at the last minute.

"When people are rushing, they're more likely to make mistakes," Nicholson said.

Only four people have been nominated for the Dannevirke Community Board, which is the number of elected members required for the board.