Local body elections: Whanganui District Council preparing for October elections

Local body elections provide opportunities for Whanganui residents with a vision for the future to stand for council. Photo / Bevan Conley

Whanganui District Council will use a specialist company to run its election process this year.

Local body elections will take place on Saturday, October 8.

Democracy manager Kate Barnes said the council was making a few changes to its election process for 2022.

"This year we have engaged an external provider to deliver the election for Whanganui and appointed Warwick Lampp of electionz.com as electoral officer," Barnes said.

"Moving to a specialist provider ensures the council can deliver a secure and efficient election, even with Covid-19 potentially in the mix."

Electionz.com has more than 20 years of experience delivering elections for councils and other organisations, and this year will run voting for more than 30 local authorities.

Council chief executive David Langford said he was excited about the upcoming election campaign.

"This is an opportunity for Whanganui residents with a vision for the future of our community to get involved and run for council," Langford said.

"I encourage potential candidates to learn about what the council does and the challenges ahead in the local government sector. If this sounds like something you want to be involved in - consider running."

The council has resolved to list candidates in random order on voting papers again this year. This means members of the same household's papers may look different. Voting handbooks will list candidates alphabetically.

Voting in local government elections throughout New Zealand will be by post in 2022, but the council will have additional voting boxes around town.

Candidates for election will be able to submit their nomination forms online this year.

"We want to make engaging with this election easy for everyone," Barnes said.

There would be events later in the year for people to learn about running for council and voting, Barnes said.

People should check their enrolment details are up to date at vote.nz or call the Election Commission on 0800 36 76 56.

People must be fully enrolled by August 12 to ensure they get their voting papers in the post.