The 2024 Tauranga local elections were held via
postal voting
Postal voting is voting in an election where ballot papers are distributed to electors (and typically returned) by Mail, post, in contrast to electors voting in person at a polling place, polling station or electronically via an electronic voti ...
from 29 June 2024 to 20 July 2024.
Elections in
Tauranga covered one
territorial authority
Territorial authorities are the second tier of local government in New Zealand, below regional councils. There are 67 territorial authorities: 13 city councils, 53 district councils and the Chatham Islands Council. District councils serve a ...
, the
Tauranga City Council.
These were the first elections for the Tauranga City Council since
2019
File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...
, following the appointment by the
Minister of Local Government of a
Crown Commission to oversee Tauranga City Council's governance responsibilities on 9 February 2021.
The Tauranga City Council used the
single transferable voting system to elect the
Mayor of Tauranga and city councillors
for a term lasting until the 2028 local elections.
Tauranga City Council created nine electoral wards for these elections. There were eight general wards (
Mauao/Mount Maunganui,
Arataki
Arataki is a neighbourhood of Mount Maunganui Tauranga, in the Bay of Plenty Region of New Zealand's North Island.
Bayfair Shopping Centre is located in Arataki.
Demographics
Arataki covers and had an estimated population of as of with a ...
,
Pāpāmoa,
Welcome Bay,
Matua-
Otūmoetai,
Bethlehem,
Tauriko and Te Papa) and one
Māori ward
Māori or Maori can refer to:
Relating to the Māori people
* Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group
* Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand
* Māori culture
* Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the Co ...
(Te Awanui, covering the entire city) which each returned one councillor.
Candidates
Nominations for candidates opened on 26 April 2024 and closed on 24 May 2024.
The following 86 candidates
have been confirmed to be running for the positions of mayor and the nine city councillors:
Mayor
Councillors
Te Awanui Māori ward
Arataki general ward
Bethlehem general ward
Matua-Otūmoetai general ward
Mauao/Mount Maunganui general ward
Pāpāmoa general ward
Tauriko general ward
Te Papa general ward
Welcome Bay general ward
Candidate events
Results
The official results of the election were released on 25 July. Voter turnout was 38.77%,
which compares with a turnout of 40.28% at the
2019 election.
Only one woman, Jen Scoular for the Mauao/Mount Maunganui ward, was elected to the council.
Two former councillors, Steve Morris and Rick Curach, were re-elected.
Mikaere Sydney was elected as councillor for Tauranga's first
Māori ward
Māori or Maori can refer to:
Relating to the Māori people
* Māori people of New Zealand, or members of that group
* Māori language, the language of the Māori people of New Zealand
* Māori culture
* Cook Islanders, the Māori people of the Co ...
Te Awanui, which the Tauranga commission had confirmed at a meeting in April 2021 following the passage of the
. Te Awanui is at risk of dissolution due to the
National-led coalition government requiring local councils to hold binding referenda on Māori wards.
Notes
References
{{reflist
Tauranga
Tauranga