Hawke's Bay Regional Council by-election deadline extended

The voting deadline in the Hawke's Bay Regional Council's Hastings constituency by-election has been extended. Candidates for the by-election are Tom Belford and Jacqueline Taylor

The voting deadline in the Hawke's Bay Regional Council's Hastings constituency by-election has been extended by a fortnight as a result of the Covid-19 Level 4 Alert lockdown.

Postal votes will now be accepted until midday on September 24, says electoral officer Leeanne Hooper.

The decision is in line with the provisions of the Local Electoral Act 2001 and has been made to ensure electors have every opportunity to cast their vote, Hooper says.

The by-election arose from the resignation of chairman Rex Graham in June, one of three councillors representing the Hastings and Havelock North constituency.

Fellow Hastings councillor Rick Barker was elected by fellow councillors to the role of chairman, but Graham's resignation also triggered the by-election. Three nominations were on papers sent to registered electors on the week of August 19-24.

But it's essentially a two-person race between Bay Buzz publisher, HB Future Farming Trust member and former two-term councillor member Tom Belford, and Jacqueline Taylor, the co-founder of the Juno KiwiSaver Scheme and former primary school teacher who is now proprietor of accommodation venue Te Mata House and a board member of specific learning difficulties networker Speld NZ and of Life Education Trust.

By the weekend, about 1800 had voted, representing less than five per cent of eligible electors.

Joe Walding-Karaitiana also appears on the papers, but he is no longer seeking election and has advised voters not to tick his name.

The council has nine members, with three also for Napier, and one each for three rural constituencies, and the new member will serve until the next triennial local elections in September-October next year.

The decision to extend the voting deadline was made as a result of the lockdown, which started on the night of August 17, and was extended on Friday to at least 11.59pm on Tuesday.