Last days for council by-election nominations

Anyone who thinks they have what it takes to fill the vacant seat on Rotorua District Council (RDC) has only a two days to get their nomination in for the district’s by-election, and potential candidates are being urged not to leave their application until the last minute.

Nominations to replace former councillor Geoff Kenny on the Rotorua District Council close sharp at 12 noon on Wednesday 28 September. Rolls for voters close at the same time.

RDC Corporate & Customer Services group manager Jean-Paul Gaston is encouraging candidates to get their nominations in to council with plenty of time to spare to avoid the risk of missing the cut if for some reason their application is not in order.

“By law correct and completed nominations must be received before 12 noon and we have no flexibility to extend the deadline by even one minute for anyone running late, providing wrong details or missing important information that needs correcting.”

RDC has so far received three nominations for the vacancy on the council, from Dianne Western, Victor Storey and Cliff Lee.

Delivery of voting papers by New Zealand Post will start from 25 October and continue through to 30 October.

The by-election will be held by postal vote with the official Polling Day set for Thursday 17 November. Votes have to be received before 12 noon on Polling Day to be included in the official count.

Mr Gaston says the Rotorua District Council electoral officer is expected to be able to announce preliminary results of the by-election later in the afternoon on Polling Day, with a formal declaration of the final results to follow five days later on 22 November.