Nominations open for vacant Whangārei Urban seat

An official nomination period opens Tuesday, 24 November for those wishing to contest the Whangārei Urban seat left vacant with the recent resignation of former Northland Regional Councillor John Bain.

Electoral Officer Dale Ofsoske says the by-election process effectively begins in earnest with the opening of the formal nomination period, which runs from tomorrow until Tuesday 22 December this year.

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/byelection
• By telephoning the electoral office on (0800) 922 822 (a form will be posted).

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

Mr Ofsoske urges people not to leave filing 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.

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.