A three-way race for Kaipara's mayoralty between Snow Tāne (top), Jonathan Larsen (right) and Jason Smith is too close to call.
Kaipara’s outgoing mayor Craig Jepson – dubbed the “Trump of the North” – is living up to the name, councillor Ihapera Paniora says, by calling an unprecedented emergency council meeting tonight which she believes is likely to suggest the local election has been rigged.
Paniora took to social media last night to alert the public and media to an 11th-hour email Jepson sent to councillors and electoral officer Dale Ofsoske just after 5pm, requisitioning the meeting. She said the email was sent just within the final 24-hour window allowed for such processes – “a last-ditch attempt for them to challenge the elections and the fact we had so many special votes. So much for ‘democracy’, right?”
Jepson said the emergency meeting seeks approval for a formal complaint into the conduct of the 2025 Kaipara District Council local government election and 2025 Northland Regional Council Māori constituency referendum.
The meeting will also ask the Department of Internal Affairs to investigate.
Jepson said he would not comment further until the matter has been investigated and a decision made. He did not explain what the NRC’s Māori constituency referendum had to do with Kaipara.
The meeting will be held at 5.30pm, at Mangawhai 1C and online. He requested the public be excluded, citing the need to protect the privacy of natural persons and maintain the effective conduct of public affairs.
Kaipara District Council chief executive Jason Marris confirmed the requisition was legally compliant, so the meeting would proceed. However, Marris said he had no information about the complaint that prompted it and could not comment on its validity. He noted the meeting would begin as open to the public and only move behind closed doors if councillors agreed the grounds for exclusion were met.
Paniora said she was not surprised by Jepson’s move or the likely nature of the complaint. “It appears to me that Democracy Northland & Hobson’s Pledge in Kaipara and Northland Regional Council are not going down without a fight.”
She believes the complaint is likely one already lodged with the Electoral Commission, possibly relating to claims that election officials were biased and that signage in Whangārei encouraged voting for Māori wards. “It sounds to me like in true Trump fashion, he’s accusing the elections of being rigged, essentially,” she said.
Paniora said the complaint appears to stem from outreach voting clinics in rural, predominantly Māori communities, and accusations that staff were “targeting a specific demographic”. She said right-leaning groups had made Official Information Act requests during the election about council staffing, time, and funding for the outreach initiatives.
“They’ve been horrible,” she said. “They claim to be for promoting democracy – but it seems only when it suits them.”
She believes the special votes, which tend to lean left, have tipped the balance in favour of Dargaville mayoral candidate Snow Tāne and the retention of Māori wards at NRC.
“Something’s rattled them,” she said.
Paniora questioned why NRC’s Māori ward referendum was even relevant to Jepson, given Kaipara District Council voted last year to remove its own Māori ward.
She said the meeting risks overshadowing the success of newly elected candidates and undermining the democratic process.
“We should be celebrating our staff, commending them on an amazing effort.
“Instead, we’re sending them to probably a judicial inquiry where every bit of their conduct will be scrutinised.”
Paniora also raised concerns about conflicts of interest, saying most councillors – including herself – should not be voting on the matter due to pecuniary interests.
“The only two that don’t have a conflict of interest would be Eryn Wilson-Collins and Mike Howard, because they’re not re-standing,” she said.
Electoral officer Dale Ofsoske from Independent Election Services stood by the independence and professionalism of his staff, despite complaints from across the community.
“I’m aware of a number of complaints that have come through from all parts of the community regarding issues around independence and impartiality of my staff, and I have forwarded all those to the police, as I’m required to do,” he said.
In 40 years of running elections, Ofsoske said an emergency meeting like this has never been held.
“It is unusual from that perspective. I’m not sure what can be achieved.”
He said legal avenues exist for candidates after results are declared, including judicial recounts and reviews.
“If they’ve got a concern, this [a judicial review] is what the law allows for and this is what we would expect.”
John Bain from Democracy Northland said he was not surprised the emergency meeting had been called, citing concerns about how the election was run.
He claimed fundamental errors were made, including allowing small groups to “press gang” people into voting a particular way. Bain said Democracy Northland would consider its next steps once official results across Northland were declared, including a judicial review or ombudsman complaint.
Incumbent deputy mayor Jonathan Larsen – endorsed by Jepson for the mayoralty and currently sitting just five votes ahead – said he did not know the details of the meeting or the complaint.
Larsen is in a tight three-way race with Snow Tāne and Jason Smith, with just 31 votes separating them. He noted that, like other councillors, he had no authority to call an emergency meeting.
Dargaville Ratepayers and Residents group has organised a protest hīkoi to the venue.
Denise Piper is a news reporter for the Northern Advocate, focusing on health and business. She has more than 20 years in journalism and is passionate about covering stories that make a difference.
Sarah Curtis is a news reporter for the Northern Advocate, focusing on a wide range of issues. She has nearly 20 years’ experience in journalism, most of which she spent court reporting in Gisborne and on the East Coast.