PUBLIC TO DECIDE ON STV

The public in Whangarei will finally have a say about the voting method used to elect their mayor and councillors. A choice between the Single Transferable Vote (STV) or First Past the Post (FPP) system will be put to voters at the 2028 local body elections.

STV was used for the first time in last year’s local body election after the previous council voted by a narrow majority to change from FPP. They did so without consulting the public.

 Cr Marie Olsen took the view that this needed to be corrected and moved a motion in two parts. The first was for FPP to be reinstated for the 2028 election. She was supported by Crs Baldwin, Martin, M Yovich, P Yovich, Reid, and Flower. Against were Mayor Couper (casting vote), and Crs McKenzie, Baker, Connop, Christie, Harding, and Ruka. The second part of the motion, to hold a referendum in 2028, was carried unanimously

STV voting explained

 For the first time, the local body elections for the Whangarei District Council will be held using the Single Transferable Vote (STV) system to elect its representatives, instead of First Past the Post (FPP).

Two voting systems are used to elect local councillors and mayors: FPP and STV.

In FPP, voters tick the candidate of their choice, or candidates if one or more councillors are elected from that ward/constituency. It’s what is used in the general election, and by 54 of the 66 councils in New Zealand.

Tory Whanau Disaster

Veteran journalist, Barry Soper, recently asked, “How did Tory Whanau get the Wellington mayoralty?”

It’s a question that many are asking and the answer is relevant to Whangarei.

Barry says, “It's the same reason why one of the country's most revered mayors in recent years, Dame Kerry Prendergast, lost her nine-year grip on the city's mayoralty to another unfathomable choice, Celia Wade-Brown. It's not because both Whanau and Wade-Brown are Greens and it's not because both of them love cycleways, despite vocal ratepayer opposition to the amount of money being spent on Wellington cycleways. It's because of the single transferrable voting system (STV) that saw them winning against all odds. It's the system where you vote for candidates on a preferential system, where once a quota's been reached for a candidate, they drop out and the votes for the second preference kicks in - and so on until a winner is found.”

STV Voting and greenies on council

The disregard for public opinion by a majority of Whangarei’s councillors was well and truly exposed recently when the Council voted to change the way they are elected. By a slim majority, the Council has changed from the First Past the Post (FPP) voting system to Single Transferable Vote (STV). They did so without giving notice to the public that the change was contemplated, and without asking the public whether they agreed with the change.

Not all councillors are as arrogant as those in Whangarei. At last year’s local elections, the Hutt City Council held a referendum which asked the public whether they preferred STV or FPP.

How they voted - STV voting - WDC

That the Council;

1. Revokes the following resolution from the Whangarei District Council meeting on 24 August 2023:

“That the Council pursuant to Section 27 of the Local Electoral Act 2001, resolves to change to the Single Transferable Voting system for the 2025 and 2028 triennial elections.”;

2. And resolves: Pursuant to Section 27 of the Local Electoral Act 2001, to retain the First Past the Post electoral system for the 2025 triennial election; and

3. Pursuant to Section 31 of the Local Electoral Act 2001, to undertake a binding poll of electors on the electoral system to be used for the 2028 and 2031 triennial elections, such a poll to be held in conjunction with the next Whangarei District Council triennial election (11 October 2025) to reduce the costs associated with the holding of a poll.