Electoral returns in Rotorua demonstrate candidates don't necessarily have to spend lots of money - or indeed any at all - to get elected.
Rotorua Lakes Council candidates reported $189,780.35 total spending in the 2019 election, though given repeated reporting of local ticket Rotorua District Residents and Ratepayers Association spending, there were likely double-ups.
Elected councillor Sandra Kai Fong got the most bang for her buck, reporting no donations or campaign spending and riding home to the tune of 8950 votes.
Sandra Kai Fong didn't spend any money on her campaign. Photo /File
Long-time councillor and former deputy mayor Trevor Maxwell also campaigned lean, reporting the donation of a campaign video worth $4000 and no spending, scraping back into election at 6230 votes.
Maxwell was 269 votes clear of his closest rival, Trish Hosking, who spent $3189.73 on her election campaign, meaning proportionally each vote cost her 54c.
Topping out the list with the most expensive unsuccessful campaign was Conan O'Brien, with a reported spend of $31,727.55.
That garnered 5072 votes, bringing the proportional cost of each to $6.26 per vote - but O'Brien said he had reported both his personal spend and the spend of his group.
Electoral officer Warwick Lampp. Photo / File
Returning officer Warwick Lampp said over-reporting was not a problem.
"In the grand scheme of things, does it really matter?"
He had "no obligation" to check each return.
"My job is not to investigate."
People could make complaints about electoral returns, but it would need to be backed up by evidence, which he would pass on to the police.
Undeclared returns
Meanwhile, Rotorua District Residents and Ratepayers Association councillor Raj Kumar, who achieved the second-largest mandate among councillors, has yet to make an electoral return.
He said he had been busy and was "still going".
Raj Kumar is yet to file an electoral return. Photo / File
"It's non-stop. It feels like this year has gone on and on."
Declarations were due by December 13, 2019. Candidates who fail to file a declaration risk a $1000 fine.
Kumar was not aware of the risk of a fine or the deadline date and said it was a "bummer".
He planned on finalising the return over the weekend and submitting it by Monday. Three other candidates, all of whom were unelected, are also yet to file electoral returns. They are council candidates Kaya Sparke and Preston "Bam" Whare, and Rotorua Rural Community Board candidate Rachel Clark.
Rotorua Lakes Council corporate planning and governance manager Oonagh Hopkins said the council was actively trying to collect the information from candidates prior to the cut-off date, but the task was now in the hands of Rotorua Lakes Council's electoral officer, Warwick Lampp.
