‘Healthy’ candidate numbers a positive sign for local democracy

LGNZ is encouraged by the latest candidate figures, with 3,526 total nominations received by last Friday’s deadline – the highest numbers seen in New Zealand’s past six local elections.

This year’s mayoral race will see 287 candidates standing for Mayor across 66 local elections – an average of 4.5 candidates per election, only slightly down from the previous two elections (295 and 292 respectively). Only two Mayors will be elected unopposed this year, in Hurunui and Manawatu – a reduction from 2022 when seven mayors “won” before elections were held. This is the lowest number seen in New Zealand’s past six local elections.

The largest mayoral race is in Dunedin with 16 candidates vying for the top spot – Wellington, Hamilton and Auckland are also strongly represented with 12 bids each.

The 3,526 overall nominations for 1,465 council roles – which includes Mayoral, community boards, wards and regional council seats and excludes licensing trusts – represents an average of 2.4 candidates per role; improving on the 2022 elections when 3,413 people sought to be part of local government (2.1 candidates per role).

LGNZ Chief Executive Susan Freeman-Greene says the figures demonstrate that people see value in being a part of their council, despite the noise that exists outside of the sector.

“We see the numbers as a strong sign that people are more engaged in this year’s local elections than in the past and want to be a voice for their community. This is good for democracy as the more voting choices people have, the more say they have in who represents their interests at the council table,” says Susan Freeman-Greene.

“We now want this to translate into more people voting, as it’s vital voter turnout improves on the 40 percent turnout for the 2022 local elections. We know the more choices that people have, the more likely they are to vote. We want to see that happen this October.”

Susan Freeman-Greene believes that several key issues will play a key role in this year’s elections and encourages people to find out what their candidates stand for, so they can make an informed voting choice.

“We know that delivery of council services, the state of local infrastructure and their impact on rates, will be hot topics this election. We strongly encourage voters to understand these issues and find out where each candidate stands on them.”

To help with this, the policy.nz website will re-launch on 31 August. This platform gathers essential information about local body candidates and their policies, sourced directly from the candidates themselves, to assist voters in making an informed choice.