Myra Tapsell with baby Araiteuru learning about the 2025 local elections in Whangārei District Council's free retro lounge in the Central library. Photo / WDC
Almost 135,000 Northlanders can start voting for the region’s 62 council politicians this week.
Voting opened on Tuesday as the bright orange voting papers started to arrive in Northland letterboxes. They are only sent to people who enrolled to vote before August 12.
Northlanders will be choosing from among 165 candidates to fill the 62 local politicians’ jobs, including mayors, councillors and community board members.
Voting will close on Saturday, October 11, at noon.
Half of Northland’s voters are in the Whangārei district (67,004 people). About 36% of the voters are in the Far North (48,458 people), while just under 14% are in Kaipara (18,327 people).
Can I vote as soon as my voting papers arrive?
You sure can. Voting papers are posted to enrolled voters between Tuesday, September 9, and September 22. You can complete your voting papers as soon as they land in your letterbox. Tuesday, October 7, is the last day for posting your vote by mail. After this date, votes must be returned to a council ballot box by midday, October 11.
What should I do if I don’t receive my voting papers?
This could be because you’re not enrolled to vote, or you enrolled or updated your details after August 1.
You’ll need to contact your local council if that’s the case.
What if I’m not enrolled?
You’ll need to enrol before voting. Head to the vote.nz website and either enrol online or arrange for enrolment papers to be sent to you. You will then need to cast a special vote. The best way to do this is to look at your council website. Councils will have a special voting location to cast a special vote or pick up a special voting pack. If you can’t make it to a special voting location, the council can send your special vote papers to you. If you didn’t receive voting papers, then you’ll need to cast a special vote too.
What am I voting for?
Local elections are held every three years for regional and district councils. You can vote for your mayor, councillor and in the Far North, community boards.
For this election, three Northland councils that have Māori wards will be holding polls on whether or not voters support keeping them.
How do I know which ward or constituency I am in?
The Northland Regional Council has an online map showing its six constituencies, with voters able to zoom in.
The Far North District Council’s map of its three general wards and Māori ward can also be zoomed in on.
Kaipara District Council voters can check which ward they’re in by entering their address on the council website’s interactive map of these electoral areas.
Whangārei District Council voters can check their ward on the council website’s interactive map.
What if I’ve moved house or newly arrived in Northland since the last elections?
Bright orange voting papers are only sent to people who had enrolled to vote by August 12.
If you’ve enrolled after that, or are still planning to, you’ll need to contact your local council to enrol, get voting papers and/or cast a special vote.
Who are the candidates I can vote for?
Northland local election candidates’ meetings are continuing around the region.
Candidates can also be checked out on Northland councils’ websites.
Whangārei residents have 44 candidates to choose from – five for the mayoral job, and 31 candidates for 13 councillor positions across six wards.
Far North residents have 66 candidates to choose from for the mayoralty, 10 councillors across four wards and 19 community board members.
Kaipara District residents have 32 candidates to choose from for eight positions – for the mayoralty and seven councillors across three wards.
Meanwhile, the region’s local election voters have 23 Northland Regional Council (NRC) candidates to choose from for nine politicians across six constituencies.
Can I vote for Māori ward/constituency candidates?
Yes, if you live in Whangārei and the Far North you can vote for Māori ward/constituency candidates - if you are on the Māori electoral roll. You can vote for general ward/constituency candidates, if on the general electoral roll.
In those areas, a person on the Māori roll can’t vote for general ward/constituency candidates and vice versa.
That’s different from this election’s Māori ward polling, where voters on the Māori and General electoral rolls can take part.
Meanwhile, things are slightly different in Kaipara, which won’t have a Māori ward for the October 2025 local elections.
So its voters on both New Zealand’s Māori electoral roll and General electoral roll will be voting for candidates in whichever of the council’s three general wards they live in or pay rates in, regardless of which roll they are on.
Is my council holding a Māori ward poll?
Voters in the Far North District Council, Whangārei District Council and Northland Regional Council rohe will be able to have their say twice about these electoral areas – once for their local district council and once for Northland Regional Council.
Kaipara voters will only be able to have their say on the Northland Regional Council’s Te Raki Māori Constituency.
The Kaipara District Council will not be holding a poll on the future of its Te Moananui o Kaipara Māori Ward because last year it voted to abolish the ward at the end of the current term.
Māori ward polling papers will be coming to you with your local election voting pack.
The Māori ward/constituency poll will ask voters to choose between two simple statements:
I vote to keep the Māori ward/constituency.
I vote to remove the Māori ward/constituency.
The poll’s result will determine whether your local district council Māori ward and/or regional council constituency remains in place or is removed.
The outcome of this voting will take effect from the 2028 local elections, with the decision being binding for the 2028 and 2031 elections.
Voters on the Māori roll and the general roll can all have their poll say.
I’ve filled out my voting paper. What next?
You can drop your voting paper in a post box, an orange voting ballot box provided by your council, or deliver it in person to one of the council’s voting hubs. Councils list the locations of their orange voting bins on their individual websites. You can also post your voting paper at a post office letterbox. Check NZ Post’s website for your nearest post shop.
Voting papers can be posted in the mail, but this must happen before October 7, to be sure they get delivered.
Mobile ballot boxes are also being taken out around more than 180 Northland locations.
Whangārei District Council voting locations
Far North District Council voting locations
Voting can be done in these locations until the close of business on Friday, October 10.
On October 11, the issuing of special voting documents and the receiving of completed voting documents will be available at the council’s Kaitāia, Kerikeri and Kaikohe offices only.
Kaipara District Council voting locations
Northland Regional Council voting is done in conjunction with each district council’s voting papers.
When will we know the results?
Progress results will start coming in from noon on October 11. Preliminary results will be known on October 12. Declaration of voting results will be released from October 16-22.
Election timeline
September 9-22: Voting documents delivered
October 7: Last day for posting vote by mail. After this date votes must be returned to council’s ballot boxes
October 11: Election day – voting closes midday
October 16-22: Declaration of results
October/November 2025: Elected members sworn in
■ LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.