Local elections are by postal vote everywhere in Aotearoa New Zealand. Your voting documents will be delivered to you (at the address you’re enrolled under), and your vote needs to be posted or put in a ballot bin to make it count.
You can return your completed voting documents to one of the following:
If you’re already enrolled to vote, check your mailbox for your voting papers between Tuesday 9 September and Monday 22 September. If you haven’t received voting papers by the last date, have a chat to one of our staff members to arrange a special vote for you.
No matter which Electoral Roll you’re on or where in Porirua city you live, you can vote for who you want to be the city’s Mayor and represent you.
Depending on which ward you’re in (Parirua Māori, Pāuatahanui General, or Onepoto General Ward), you’ll have a selection of candidates running for a Councillor position in that ward.
Depending on which ward you’re in (Te Upoko o te Ika a Māui Māori or Porirua-Tawa constituency), you’ll have a selection of candidates running for a Councillor position in that constituency.
This year, there will be additional questions asking voters whether they want to keep or remove Porirua’s Māori Ward and Greater Wellington's Māori Constituency.
The majority vote of the poll (over 50% of voters) will decide the future of the Māori Ward and Māori Constituency with the results of the poll being effective from 2028.
The format of the poll question is:
I vote to KEEP the Parirua Māori ward (or Māori constituency); or
I vote to REMOVE the Parirua Māori wards (or Māori constituency).
Porirua City Council has decided to add a non-binding poll to this year's election, on whether Porirua City Council should explore merging with other councils in Wellington and the Hutt Valley.
The format of the poll question is:
“Should Porirua City Council work with councils in Wellington, the Hutt Valley, and the Wellington Regional Council to explore the possibility of creating one single council, that combines relevant services and functions regionally, while keeping appropriate local services and decision making local?”
This poll is non-binding. This means that the future Council is not required to take any action, or not do anything, as a result of this poll. The results of this poll will be used to inform future policy of the Council.
A special vote is a voting document without your personalised details. These are completed when you fill in the form. You might need to cast a special vote because:
Our election staff can issue you a special vote to complete. To receive the special voting documents:
We will be hosting pop-up special voting events between Tuesday 9 September and Saturday 11 October 2025. Keep an eye on our events page for updates!
Porirua uses the single transferable voting (STV) method for local elections for the mayor and councillor positions. This is a preference-based ranking system for candidates.
The votes are called ‘transferable’ because the votes can transfer between candidates (based on their ranking) to ensure a vote contributes to the election of at least one candidate the voter likes.
If a candidate for councillor is a clear winner for the position and does not need all the votes they receive, a proportion is transferred to the voter’s next preference. This ensures all votes contribute to candidates. This works the same if a candidate is not popular and receives too few votes, those votes are transferred to a voter’s next preference.
More details about how STV works can be found here.
Single transferable voting is used all over our country at other councils. Here's an explanation done by Tauranga City Council.
If you’re unable to complete the voting documents, speak to one of our election staff members by calling 04 237 5089 to find a solution. In some cases, you can authorise someone you trust to complete the voting document on your behalf. In other cases, you can get assistance to complete the voting documents yourself.
If you are blind, have a vision impairment and are unable to mark the voting document without assistance, or have another physical disability and are unable to mark the voting document without assistance, you can complete a telephone dictation vote. More information will be available closer to the voting period.
