It’s In The Ballot Comes To Eastern Bay Of Plenty

Wednesday, 23 July 2025, 1:43 pm
Article: Diane McCarthy - Local Democracy Reporter

A NEW show to help local election candidates get their message out to voters is coming to Whakatāne and Kawerau districts in September.

It’s in the Ballot is a travelling webshow founded by Wellington-based political commentator Sam Somers, along with co-chair and producer Stacey Ryan.

It’s in the Ballot has scheduled five days of production to be held in Kawerau, Whakatāne, Edgecumbe, Tāneatua and Murupara in the month before the election.

Mr Somers says he plans to create 30 hours of footage of these events.

The founder, host and executive producer of the show, he initiated it after his experiences standing for office in the Greater Wellington Regional Council in both 2016 and 2019.

Having attended Meet the Candidates meetings organised by various groups, he found it challenging to get his message across to his constituency. With his supporters, along with support from other candidates, he decided that a webshow was the solution, so hosted It’s in the Ballot for eight electorates in the General Election in 2020.

In 2022, It’s in the Ballot Productions, a non-profit organisation, hosted 34 shows in the Wellington Region for the council elections, including having all candidates elected in Hutt City Council (Lower Hutt) and Upper Hutt City Council participate.

This year, a new challenge has been set, to expand coverage by holding over 100 events covering 23 councils in Greater Wellington, Manawatu-Wanganui Region, Bay of Plenty and Waikato regions.

The shows are held in local venues and aired live on the It’s in the Ballot Website, YouTube, Facebook, Twitch and their Tiktok page.

The format is loosely based on classic New Zealand television series It’s in the Bag.

Communities are given a chance ahead of the event to submit questions for candidates.

Questions are placed in numbered boxes (or “bags”) and each candidate must select a box number and answer the question inside.

Each candidate is given two “butt in” cards which they can play to answer a question selected by another candidate and a “defer” card, which they can play to defer their question to another candidate of their choice.

Candidates also have a chance at the beginning of the show to introduce themselves, much like any other candidate’s meeting.

Candidates for Whakatāne and Kawerau district councils or Bay of Plenty Regional Council elections can visit itsintheballot.nz to register for the events and the community is invited to submit questions for the candidates. They can also book free tickets to any of the events on the website whether they wish to attend in person or view online.

Events for Eastern Bay of Plenty

September 9: Edgecumbe War Memorial Hall – Rangitaiki Community Board 3pm, Rangitaiki Māori Ward 4pm, Rangitaiki General Ward 7pm

September 10: Tāneatua School and Community Hall (Venue to be confirmed) – Tāneatua Community Board 4pm, Bay of Plenty Regional Council Kōhi Māori constituency 5pm, Eastern Bay constituency at 7pm

September 13: Kawerau Town Hall – Kawerau District Council councillors at large 10am, Māori Ward 1pm, General Ward 4pm and Mayoral Debate 7pm

September 16: Murupara Area School – Murupara Community Board 4pm, Te Urewera General Ward 5pm, Toi ki Uta Māori Ward 7pm

September 18: Whakatāne War Memorial Centre – Kapu to Rangi Māori Ward 1pm, Whakatāne-Ōhope Community Board 3pm, Whakatāne-Ōhope General Ward 4pm, Mayoral Debate 7pm

Links for the event:

Kawerau Question Form 

Whakatāne Question Form  

It’s in the Ballot Eventbrite 

© Scoop Media

Local Democracy Reporting

Content from the Local Democracy Reporting (LDR) service is published by Scoop as a registered New Zealand Media Outlet LDR Partner.