Stand for Council

1. Complete and submit a nomination form
2. Get two people to nominate you. These people must be over 18 and enrolled to vote in the area (constituency) you wish to stand in. If you intend to stand in one of the Māori constituencies both of your nominators must be enrolled on the Māori roll in the same constituency you are standing in.
3. Provide a deposit of $200. This may be refunded, depending on how many votes you receive.
4. Learn about how council works and your roles and responsibilities if elected.

Please check that you have all the required documents when applying:

• Nomination form – Each nomination must be made on the appropriate official nomination form, must have the consent of the candidate, and must be signed by two nominators (electors whose names appear on the Electoral Roll for the constituency the candidate is standing in)
• Profile statement – No more than 150 words, in paragraphs with no special formatting – refer to the Candidate Handbook for details relating to profile statement translations.
• Photo – Recent (within last 6 months) head and shoulders only, with nothing else in the photo, i.e. no hats, external objects or other people, supplied electronically as a JPEG or PNG file in the following format:
  472 pixels wide by 709 pixels high, 400 KB maximum set to greyscale or full colour at 600dpi.
• NZ Citizenship – Acceptable evidence of NZ Citizenship includes a NZ birth certificate or Passport, or NZ citizenship certificate
• Evidence of Deposit payment - Payment of the nomination deposit can be made by cash or EFTPOS when delivering your nomination in person at the HBRC office, or by online banking. When using online banking, please refer to the details provided on page 2 of the Nomination form.
• Your deposit will be refunded, if you are successful or get more than 25% of the number of votes the lowest successful candidate got, once you’ve submitted your Return of Electoral Expenses and Donations form to the Electoral Officer.

Candidates should:

• find out what is important to your local community
• familiarise yourself with Hawke’s Bay’s local government structure and the role of councillors.

We encourage you to attend a Council meeting to see what is involved. You can find our meetings schedule and links to watch meetings online on our page:

Council meetings

The main reason people don't vote is lack of knowledge about the candidates and their views.

A successful campaign is one where local residents know the key issues you stand for within the community. Here are some useful tips for connecting with people and getting more votes.

• Use social media channels like Facebook and Twitter as they are cheap to run and have wider reach
• Get out into the community by door knocking, addressing public meetings and talking to the public in shopping malls or weekend markets
• Look for interview opportunities on the radio, local newspapers or magazines
• Advertise your views in newspapers or on billboards.

There are regulations around campaigning, including what can be spent and how and when signage can be displayed. For full details, see The Local Electoral Act 2001 on the Legislation website.

Hawke’s Bay Regional Council’s Facebook page must not be used for electioneering purposes. Any post - positive or negative - made by any individual specifically relating to their own - or someone else's - nomination, intention to run for the Regional Council or election campaign, will be removed immediately. Check out the Regional Council Social Media Guidelines, that provides information and rules around using social media for campaigning. 

Find out more about about hoardings policies

Find out more on the individual council websites below.

Central Hawke's Bay District Council
Napier City Council
Hastings District Council
Wairoa District Council

Ahead of the elections we will produce a booklet to help navigate through the process of standing for council. This is available online.

For more information about standing for council  email HBRC’s Electoral Officer, Leeanne Hooper. Leeanne is happy to meet with you informally to chat about the role of councillor and answer any questions you may have.

For more information about standing for council, email HBRC’s Electoral Officer at leeanne@hbrc.govt.nz

Taituarā (Local Government Professionals Aotearoa), in collaboration with LGNZ (Local Government New Zealand), has a national Vote Local website - a one-stop shop for information on preparing for Local Elections – for voters, candidates, teachers, and council staff.

Vote Local

Maangai Taunaki

With any councils establishing Maori wards last year, Taurikura NZ and Waikato-Tainui have collaborated to develop Maangai Taunaki, a series of waananaga to support candidates, campaign supporters and community champions. This information will be of interest to those thinking about standing as a candidate in the 2022 Local Elections.

All of the Mana Tangata Mana Maangai videos including the Maangai Taunaki candidate support series are available on the Mana Tangata Mana Maaori YouTube channel.