Nominations close soon for Whangārei Urban seat

People keen to stand for the Whangārei Urban seat left vacant with the recent resignation of former Northland Regional Councillor John Bain are being urged to get their nominations in sooner rather than later.

Electoral Officer Dale Ofsoske says while several people have publicly announced an intention to contest the byelection, as of today (16 December) no-one had formally completed the nomination process.

A formal nomination period opened late last month and closes at noon on Tuesday, 22 December.

Mr Ofsoske is urging people not to leave lodging their nominations too close to that deadline, in case there’s a problem with the form which could render it invalid if it can’t be corrected/completed in time.

To be eligible to stand for election, a candidate must be:

• enrolled as a Parliamentary elector (anywhere in New Zealand);
• a New Zealand citizen; and
• nominated by two electors of the Whangārei Urban constituency.

Nomination forms – including further information for would-be candidates – are available from:

• Council’s Whangārei office, 36 Water St, Whangārei
• Online: www.nrc.govt.nz/by-election
• By telephoning the electoral office on (0800) 922 822.

“Those seeking nomination must have their completed nominations into officials’ hands no later than noon on Tuesday 22 December.”

Assuming more than one eligible candidate stands in the by-election, postal voting documents will be mailed to the roughly 30,000 eligible voters from Tuesday 26 January 2021. The voting period is three weeks from then until noon on Wednesday 17 February 2021.