As our local government elections draw closer, potential candidates will be starting to think about their nominations, which officially open on July 4.

The Central App will soon have an election button where all of the information can be found on Elections 2025, profiles on candidates from the Central Otago District Council and the Otago Regional Council, and any other interesting news stories.

Candidate nominations close on August 1 and the names of all new candidates are published on August 6.

Between September 9 and 22 voting documents will be delivered to people, and the cut off day by mail is October 7 - but council will open its ballot boxes after that.

Election day 2025 is October 11 and voting closes at midday, with preliminary results out soon after. https://www.codc.govt.nz/your-council/elections

For the Otago Regional Council, people can find out more by heading to the Election 2025 webpage www.orc.govt.nz/stand where they can find information about what a regional council does, the role of a

councillor, how much they get paid, how many meetings they need to attend and how much reading is required.

Chief executive Richard Saunders said in the next triennium (3-year term), the regional council will make decisions which support outcomes for our community in environmental management, natural resource management, public transport, preparing for and responding to emergencies and natural disasters as well as the economic, social, cultural, and environmental wellbeing of the region.

“By standing for election to ORC, you’ll be a part of Otago’s democracy. Being an elected member of local government can be a rewarding role, as you advocate for your communities and work with our partners to achieve the best outcomes for this region we love.”

The Otago Regional Council was made up of 12 councillors elected from four constituencies. After a representation review, this year there are changes to the number of councillors in the Dunedin and Dunstan wards. These constituencies are now Dunedin (with five Councillors), Dunstan (four), Molyneux (two) and Moeraki (one). 

Also changed this year is the way the region will cast their vote for ORC’s elections. This year all of Otago moves to Single Transferrable Vote (STV) for the ORC.

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