Nominations for Hamilton City Council by-election closed at noon today with 24 candidates putting their hand up to fill the vacant East Ward seat.

The candidates are:

• Anna Casey-Cox
• Ritesh Chandra
• Roshni Desai
• Mark Donovan
• Jack Gielen
• Horiana Henderson
• Michelle Houghton
• Peter Humphreys
• Pirihira Kaio
• Lisa Lewis
• Ross Macleod
• Riki Manarangi
• Christopher Manson
• Colm McKeogh
• Jennifer Myers
• Daniel Pascoe
• Emma Pike
• Naomi Pocock
• Donna Pokere-Phillips
• Wiremu Puke
• Anna Smart
• Chris Van der Aa
• Kat Waswo
• Ada Xiao

Candidate profiles and answers to five questions will be online later in the week at yourcityelections.co.nz/candidates. The questions are:

• What’s your vision for Hamilton?
• What do you think is key in getting the balance right between ‘looking after what we have’ and being ready for our city’s growth?
• What do you think is key for managing our city’s growth?
• What’s the one thing you’d do differently that would make Hamilton an even better place to live?
• How do you think we can get more people interested and engaged in Council?

Voting packs will start arriving in the mail from 27 July. Voters are being urged to post their ballots by 12 August to guarantee they will arrive in time to be counted. There is no online voting.

Voting officially closes at midday on Wednesday 18 August and voting papers can be hand-delivered to the Hamilton City Council office in Garden Place and ballot box locations up until then. Visit yourcityelections.co.nz/vote for ballot box locations and information on casting a special vote. By law, voting papers received after midday cannot be counted.

Voters are being urged to take care when filling in their voting paper to ensure all instructions are followed. If not filled in correctly, the vote will not be counted.

Those not already enrolled to vote in local government elections can do so up to Tuesday 17 August.

The by-election will be conducted using the FPP (First Past the Post) voting system. The STV (Single Transferable Vote) system, adopted by Hamilton City Council (in August 2020), will not come into effect until the 2022 local body election.

Hamilton City Council is required to hold a by-election following the death of East Ward Councillor Margaret Forsyth in early May.

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