With candidates for the Otago Regional Council in the 2022 local government elections announced, ORC Chief Executive Dr Pim Borren recommends voters take the time to do their research.

“Check out the candidate profiles, find out what they stand for, and vote,” says Dr Borren.

Apart from Moeraki, where Kevin Malcolm will be elected unopposed, there are 23 candidates for 11 vacancies, spread over the Dunedin, Dunstan (Central Otago and Queenstown Lakes areas) and Molyneux (Clutha) constituencies.

Voters can find the full list of candidates and what they stand for on the ORC website: https://www.orc.govt.nz/our-council-our-region/our-council/local-elections/candidate-profiles

Candidate contact details can also be found on our Election page.

Email addresses for special votes

Voting papers will be sent out mid-September for postal voting. However, if an intending voter hasn’t enrolled or updated their address after midnight on Friday 12 August 2022, they will not receive voting papers in the mail. Instead, a voter will need to request special voting papers from the nearest city or district council offices.

For the Dunedin City Council and Central Otago District Council that is Anthony Morton (amorton@electionz.com), for Clutha District Council it is Dale Ofsoske (dale.ofsoske@electionservices.co.nz) and for the Queenstown Lakes District Council the person to email is Jane Robertson (jane.robertson@qldc.govt.nz).

Key dates

If you enrolled prior to August 12, your voting papers will arrive between 16-21 September. Otherwise contact your local territorial authority to arrange a special vote using the email addresses above.

Then…time to vote! You can vote from 16 September to noon, 8 October. The final day for postal votes is 4 October.

Vote by posting your voting papers back at any street or post-office mailbox.

After 4 October votes must be returned to council’s secure ballot boxes located in libraries, territorial authority service centres and other public locations across Otago.

Election day is 8 October 2022 – voting closes at 12 noon.

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