Matamata-Piako District Council review our representation arrangements at least every six years, as required by legislation. The review is to ensure our community is fairly and effectively represented and includes a review of the number of Councillors, the wards that we have and whether each Councillor represents roughly the same number of people in the district.

In April 2021, Council decided to establish a Māori Ward for the 2022 and 2025 triennial elections. As the change could impact the overall representation structure, it was necessary to undertake a Representation Review to ensure our statutory requirements were being met in accordance with the Local Electoral Act 2001.

The process for this review was:

• Council was required by law to determine its initial representation proposal for public consultation by 31 August 2021.
• Once this was decided on, we invited submission from the community on the proposal which closed on 8 September 2021.
• Council considered all submissions received.
• Council gave public notice of its final proposal for an appeal and objections. No appeals or objections were received.
• The Local Government Commission determined Council’s proposal to be accepted by the prescribed timeframe of 11 April 2022

If you’re of Māori descent and enrolling for the first time, you have will have the choice to enrol in either the Māori Roll or the General Roll. The Roll you choose decides which electorate you vote in for both the Central Government and Local Government elections:

• If you choose to be on the Māori Roll, you will vote for the Mayor, and candidates for the Māori Ward;
• If you choose to be on the General Roll, you vote for the Mayor and candidates for the General Wards (Matamata, Morrinsville or Te Aroha).

If you identified that you are of New Zealand Māori descent when you enrolled to vote, you will get a Māori Electoral Option pack in the mail every 5 years (after every census). You then have four months to indicate whether you wish to stay on the same Roll, or change Rolls for the next 5 years.

For those already enrolled, the next opportunity to change Rolls will be in 2021. Only Māori enrolling for the first time or re-enrolling after having previously been removed from the Roll are able to choose to enrol on the Māori Roll in the interim. Visit vote.nz for more info.

If you are on the parliamentary roll in one area but pay rates on a property in another area, you may be entitled to enrol to vote on the non-resident ratepayer roll.  Companies, businesses and societies that are ratepayers, may also nominate an elector to vote on their behalf, provided they reside outside of the Matamata-Piako District Council area.

In each case only one ratepayer elector can be nominated, irrespective of the number of properties owned by the firm, company, society, trust, partnership or ratepayer in the Matamata-Piako district.

If you think you may be eligible to enrol or to nominate a person for the non-resident ratepayer electoral roll, you will need to complete an Enrolment Form for Ratepayer Electors  (pdf, 189KB). Alternatively, complete an online version here.

You can find the 2019 Local Government results for our district here. 

The following elections will be held by postal vote on Saturday 8 October 2022. 

Matamata-Piako District Council

(First Past the Post electoral system)                   

Election of the mayor

Election of four councillors for the Matamata Ward

Election of four councillors for the Morrinsville Ward

Election of three councillors for the Te Aroha Ward

Election of one councillor for the Te Toa Horopū ā-Matamata-Piako Ward

Candidate names will be listed in fully random order on the voting papers.

Nominations

Nominations for the listed positions open on Friday 15 July 2022 and must be made on the appropriate nomination form for each position. Nomination forms and a candidate information handbook can be found either on the Matamata-Piako District Council website, or by request to the electoral officer via the contact options listed below. Completed nomination documents must be received by the electoral officer no later than 12noon on Friday 12 August 2022. Each nomination must be accompanied by a deposit of $200 incl GST, payable by eftpos, cash or on-line banking (see candidate handbook for requirements).

Candidates are encouraged to submit a candidate profile statement and colour photograph with their nomination, for sending out with voting documents to electors. The requirements for profile statements and photos are set out in a candidate handbook which is available with the nomination forms. All nomination documents must be lodged together.

Electoral Rolls

Preliminary electoral rolls for these elections can be inspected at the following locations during office hours from Friday 15 July 2022 to Friday 12 August 2022.

Matamata-Piako District Council offices at:

• 35 Kenrick Street, Te Aroha
• 11 Tainui Street, Matamata
• 56-62 Canada Street, Morrinsville

or public libraries at:

• Rewi Street, Te Aroha
• Tui Street, Matamata
• Canada Street, Morrinsville

Electors may enrol or amend their enrolment details on the residential electoral roll by contacting the Electoral Commission:

• Online at www.vote.nz
• By texting your name and address to 3676 to get a form sent to you
• By calling 0800 36 76 56 to ask for a form to be sent to you
• By email request to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Updates to the preliminary electoral roll close at 5pm on Friday 12 August 2022.

Applications for registration as a ratepayer elector are to be made on the non-resident ratepayer elector enrolment form available wherever copies of the electoral rolls are displayed and must be returned to the Matamata-Piako District Council electoral officer before 5pm Friday 12 August 2022. Online applications for ratepayer elector registration can also be made through the non-resident ratepayer portal: www.electionz.com/ratepayer

Warwick Lampp

Electoral Officer – Matamata-Piako District Council

PO Box 3138 Christchurch 8140

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

0800 666 048

www.mpdc.govt.nz

The Local Government Commission confirmed our proposed structure for representation. This means that the Council structure for the next two elections will be four Matamata Ward Councillors, four Morrinsville Ward Councillors, three Te Aroha Ward Councillors and one Māori Ward Councillor, plus the Mayor.

Elections for Matamata-Piako District Council are held every three years and are conducted in accordance with the Local Electoral Act 2001, Local Electoral Regulations 2001 and Local Government Act 2002.

Electionz.com Limited are contracted by Council to conduct the election on our behalf for 2022.

For those interested in standing for Waikato Regional Council, check out Elections 2022 - Candidate information for Waikato Regional Council