Andrea Hammond. Photo / Andrew Warner
Some Rotorua rural ward voters are crying foul over a new election process, saying they had no idea they would only be allowed to vote for a mayor and one councillor this year.
All eligible voters should have received their voting papers in the mail for the upcoming local election, but some rural voters say they have been taken by surprise when opening their envelopes.
They say they weren't fully aware of the implications of a new voting system and say the council didn't communicate it clearly.
The Rotorua Lakes Council says the changes have been communicated widely, including online and through advertisements.
Instead of choosing all councillors and a mayor, rural voters are only able to vote for a mayor and a rural ward candidate, of which there are only two candidates to choose from - Shirley Trumper and Karen Barker.
A rural ward came about following the council's representation review. As part of that review the council sought to achieve a council made up of three Māori ward seats, three general ward seats, four at-large seats and to also have two community boards.
The Local Electoral Act currently restricts the number of seats in a Māori ward based on population ratios, so to adopt the preferred model, the council needed legislative change and pursued a local bill in Parliament.
In the interim, the council decided on a model made up of one mayor elected at large, one Māori ward seat, one general ward seat, eight at-large seats and two community boards.
Twelve appeals and objections were lodged with the Local Government Commission about the interim model, so the commission reviewed it.
In April the Local Government Commission revealed it had overturned the council's interim model and replaced it with a council made up of three Māori ward seats, six general ward seats and one rural ward seat as well as the two community boards - one of which is rural.
Weeks later the Attorney-General ruled the council's local bill could not be justified and discriminated against general roll voters. He said the bill created a disparity in the number of people represented by each ward council member and disadvantaged and discriminated against those on the general ward.
At the end of April, the council pressed pause on the bill, meaning the commission's model would be in place for the next term.
This year, four nominations were received for the four Rural Community Board seats, meaning no election was held.
Kaharoa voter Andrea Hammond said residents she knew in her area had been taken by surprise.
In her view: "It's not even close to being clearly communicated."
She said if people had known it would mean they could only vote for one councillor, the council would have received hundreds of objections.
Hammond said they only lived about 15 minutes from central Rotorua and decisions made by the council fully impacted them.
"It affects us all, not just those in town. Our rates are not cheaper but we don't have the same amount of say. Our involvement in who is running the council has been decreased hugely."
She said she didn't doubt a legal process was followed but questioned how it could be fair.
Former Rotorua district councillor and Paradise Valley Rd resident Bob Martin said rural voters weren't aware of the ramifications. He said he and other voters he had spoken to were looking in their envelopes, wondering if they were missing a page.
"It's a system that's difficult to understand and I'm struggling, and I like to think I'm in the know. We never had a clue."
Martin said rural voters would feel like they had been reduced to one voice around the council table.
Kaharoa Community Association chair Chris Paterson said she believed Kaharoa residents were generally aware of the change as she had informed them of the process, but a few would have just found out from their voting papers.
"We never set out to get just one seat," Paterson said. "They are not happy with it but they have accepted it as due process for now, until a change can be made at the next election."
Rotorua-Taupo Federated Farmers president Colin Guyton, who is now on the Rural Community Board, said he had heard from locals who were a little shocked to find they could only vote in the rural ward.
"But that was the outcome of the review. From a rural person's point of view it is better to have one person than none but we have given away opportunity to have a voice with the others."
Rotorua Rural Community Board deputy chairman Ben Hollier, who has been elected to the board again, said he had heard comments both personally and from social media that there had been some confusion around what the change meant and who they could vote for.
"In an ideal world, that would have been something that was part of the initial consultation because that would have given an opportunity for that feedback to go to the council but the way it turned out, this was the consequence," Hollier said.
Council district leadership and democracy deputy chief executive Oonagh Hopkins said the commission's determination in April and confirmation in May were promoted on the council's website and social media channels and on the council's engagement platform Let's Talk/Korero Mai.
It was also included in the council's weekly e-panui that residents can sign up to and was confirmed with elected members during a live-streamed, public committee meeting.
It was also covered by the media and the Rotorua Rural Community Board shared the information and what it would mean for rural voters, Hopkins said.
The voting model information is in the pre-election report that has been publicly available since August 1 on the council's website and has also been promoted via the council's social media channels and the weekly e-panui.
Hopkins said the information was also included in the information for voters section that was part of all information relating to the 2022 elections on the council's website.
She said the information also featured on screens in the council's Civic Centre customer centre and the library.
Hopkins said it had received one call from a rural voter who was unaware of the change.
A spokesperson from the Local Government Commission said one of the issues raised through appeals and objections was whether there should be a separate rural general ward for Rotorua.
The commission met with the council and appellants and objectors who wished to be heard on March 23. The hearing was live-streamed.
The commission heard arguments for and against a separate rural general ward and ultimately favoured the arguments of the appellants who had requested a separate rural general ward, the spokesperson said.
Election details
Voting closes at noon on Saturday October 8.
Completed voting papers can be returned to the orange "Vote" ballot boxes throughout the district, or they can be posted into an NZ Post box.
If using NZ Post, you need to post your voting papers by 5pm October 4 to allow enough time for your papers to reach the processing centre by midday on October 8.
If you haven't received your voting papers, contact the council.
If you haven't enrolled to vote, you enrolled after August 12, or your voting pack is damaged or lost, you will need to cast a special vote by contacting the council.
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