Me pēhea te tū mai hei māngai mō te kōwhiringa pōti

How to become a candidate in the local elections

Who can be a candidate

To be a candidate for an elected member position, you must be:

a New Zealand citizen
over 18 years old
enrolled on the electoral roll.

You do not need any special qualifications. Elected members come from all backgrounds and walks of life.

To be effective you need a broad range of skills, such as:

decision making and strategic thinking
communication and community engagement
relationship building and collaboration.

Visit Skills and qualities you need to become an elected member for further information.

Video on why you should become a candidate

Read the full transcript of this video.

How to become a candidate

Nominations will open on 4 July 2025, but you can start preparing now:

Learn about how the council works.
Find out why now is a great opportunity to lead Tāmaki Makaurau / Auckland.
Learn your roles and responsibilities if you get elected.
Talk to people in your community about what is important to them.

Pay a nomination deposit

When filling in your nomination form between 4 July and 1 August 2025, you will need to pay a nomination deposit of $200.

This deposit applies to each election position you want to be a candidate for.

You should know

You do not need to live in the area you want to represent, but you will need to declare this in your candidate profile statement.

You need two people to nominate you. They must be over 18 and on the Parliamentary Electoral Roll within the area you want to represent as a candidate.

Video on how to become a candidate

Read the full transcript of this video.

You should know

We strongly recommend you submit your nomination forms early so that we can identify any potential problems for you before nominations close.

Get a copy of the Candidate handbook

Candidate handbook – Auckland local elections 2022

PDF download 7.4 MB

Changes to election sign sites - July 2022

Auckland Transport has recently removed some sites from the list of approved election sign sites. This can happen when a site on the list is no longer appropriate for election signs – for example, a site on a park may now have a playground on it.

Check the updated list of approved sites on the Auckland Transport website.

How many positions you can be elected for

You can be a candidate for:

mayor
a ward councillor
a local board member.

If you are elected to more than one position, you will take the highest ranked position.

You can not be a candidate for more than one ward.

You can be a candidate for more than one local board but you can only be elected to one. If you are a candidate for more than one local board, you will need to state which one is your priority if you get elected to more than one.

You can also be a candidate for a licensing trust, if you live in the licensing trust area. You can only be a candidate for one licensing trust.

More information about becoming a candidate

Visit How to run a successful election campaign.

Email the Electoral Officer at info@electionservices.co.nz for more information on becoming a candidate in 2025.