A ruling from the High Court at Auckland has upheld voiding the outcome of the 2025 local body election in Papatoetoe. Photo / RNZ, Simon Rogers
By Blessen Tom of RNZ
A High Court judge at Auckland has upheld a District Court ruling that voided the outcome of the 2025 local body election in Papatoetoe.
High Court Justice Jane Anderson reserved her decision in February after hearing a petition filed by the Papatoetoe Ōtara Action Team, which won all four seats on the Local Board subdivision.
In the ruling released on Friday, Justice Anderson said some social media comments suggested the District Court ruling demonstrated “immigrant corruption”, concluding that the “Indian candidates masterminded fraudulent votes”.
“This is a misleading and improper report of the decision,” Justice Anderson said.
“Hausia does not allege – nor did the [District Court] judge find – that [the Papatoetoe Ōtara Action Team] had any involvement in the misuse of voting papers identified in the decision.
“The applicants have strongly condemned that conduct, whether it arose through a misguided attempt to assist them or through other mischief. Police inquiries are continuing into the electoral fraud.”
However, the High Court didn’t accept the Papatoetoe Ōtara Action Team’s contention that it was not properly served with the petition filed in the District Court as required.
“They also say that the inquiry investigated far-reaching claims affecting them... as to fraudulent voting and that it was in breach of procedural fairness that the [District] Court did not notify them or make inquiry of them of these matters,” Justice Anderson said.
In rejecting such an assertion, Justice Anderson wrote that “the applicants were well aware of the petition; that candidates were being asked to support it; that it extended to allegations of unlawful conduct involving the misuse of votes; that their election was at risk if these allegations were accepted; and that, if so, this would need to be widespread unlawful conduct”.
“[The Papatoetoe Ōtara Action Team] were affected parties with a very strong interest in opposing the petition and providing the inquiry with evidence opposing such allegations. However, having been notified of the petition, they chose not to do this.”
Justice Anderson said it was “problematic for a candidate who has not taken part in the inquiry to assert later that insufficient inquiry was made about their campaign or matters affecting them”.
“While I do not suggest this happened here, opening the door to this as a ground of review could result in gaming by a candidate who has acted improperly but wants to avoid investigation,” she wrote.
A new election will be held in Papatoetoe, with voting opening on March 9.
Kunal Bhalla, spokesman for the Papatoetoe Ōtara Action Team, said his team was “a bit heartbroken but not demotivated”.
“It is quite unfortunate that the High Court couldn’t find grounds to carry out the judicial review,” he said.
Bhalla said the dismissal of the petition did not mean the evidence they submitted was wrong.
“The biggest takeaway from this whole High Court judgment is that the judge has made it explicitly clear that the Papatoetoe Ōtara Action Team, or any of the candidates, are absolutely not involved in any fraud,” he said.
Bhalla hoped the ruling would put an end to rumours suggesting the migrant community was behind the election fraud.
In February, candidates contesting the new election in Papatoetoe told RNZ they wanted ethnicity left out of the race as they vied for one of the four seats that were up for grabs.
Bhalla said the team was now focused on the campaign.
“We’re door-knocking and trying to educate as many voters as we can, and get as many people as possible to participate in this election,” Bhalla said.
Bhalla said voters would now have the final say and the team planned to present the evidence they submitted to the court in a public forum.
“At the end of the day, it’s the public who have to see it and judge for themselves,” he said.
“So we will continue to do that through whichever medium possible, wherever possible, and we will not give up until the elections are over.”
In February, Ben Keith, legal counsel representing the winning candidates, called Manukau District Court Judge Richard McIlraith’s decision in December “neither fair, nor sound”.
Simon Mitchell, representing the Labour candidates in the local body election, described the voting irregularities as “significant”.
Lehopoaome Vi Hausia, a former Ōtara-Papatoetoe Local Board member and petitioner in the District Court case, welcomed the ruling.
“I had confidence in the District Court and the ruling that was made, and it reflected the concerns the community of Papatoetoe had,” Hausia said.
Hausia said he was looking forward to the upcoming election.
“I love campaigning,” he said. “We love being on the ground and sharing our message in Papatoetoe – it’s so important to vote.”
Hausia said the legal process had reinforced the importance of following the rules.
“The biggest learning from this is that it’s much easier to do things right and stay out of court,” he said.
“Do things right the first time, play your role, don’t cheat and things will be fine.”
Twenty candidates have since thrown their hats into the ring to contest the new Papatoetoe subdivision election that has been organised after the District Court ruling in December.
Voting opens on March 9 and closes at noon on April 9, with ballots sent by post to all eligible voters.
In December, Judge McIlraith ruled that voting irregularities materially affected the result of the Ōtara-Papatoetoe Local Board election, declaring it void.
At a preliminary hearing, Judge McIlraith ordered five ballot boxes containing votes from the electorate to be scrutinised.
Seventy-nine voting papers were subsequently identified during examination as having been cast without the rightful voter’s knowledge.
Papatoetoe was the only Auckland electorate to record a significant rise in turnout in the latest local body election.
While other Auckland areas reported a drop in turnout, voting numbers in Papatoetoe increased by more than 7%.
All four seats went to first-time candidates from the Papatoetoe Ōtara Action Team.
The Ōtara-Papatoetoe Local Board has two subdivisions, with Ōtara having three seats and Papatoetoe four.
None of the previous local board members of the Papatoetoe subdivision were re-elected.
– RNZ