Kia ora e te whānau,

We want to let voters of Te Whanganui-a-Tara Māori Ward know that, unfortunately, we are unable to go ahead with the It’s in the Ballot show for this ward, which was planned for this Sunday, 31 August at 1pm.

To deliver a fair and balanced event, all candidates need to be part of the kōrero. We tried multiple participation options, but were unable to have all three candidates take part. Because of this, we were given the option to either postpone or cancel. Postponing would have meant additional costs and the challenge of finding a new date that didn’t clash with our other confirmed shows. After careful consideration, we felt cancellation was the fairest choice in this situation.

We understand this will be disappointing, especially for voters who may find it difficult to attend resident-run “Meet the Candidate” sessions due to work, transport, or accessibility needs. Our team is equally disappointed, as we hoped to provide an online platform for everyone to engage with the candidates.

The cancellation also means some costs have already been incurred: three hours of venue hire at Te Whaea (totalling $155.25 including GST), along with around 10 hours of preparation by volunteers, and 12 more volunteer hours that had been committed for this Sunday’s show.

The candidates confirmed by the Wellington City Council Electoral Officer for Te Whanganui-a-Tara Māori Ward are:

• Te Paea PARINGATAI
• Matthew REWETI
• Tory WHANAU

While this event is unable to proceed, you can still watch other It’s in the Ballot shows here: https://www.youtube.com/@itsintheballot/streams

Ngā mihi nui,
Sam Somers
Co-Chair,
It’s in the Ballot Productions

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