Council Boss: Māori Ward Election Blunder ‘Incredibly Disappointing’

Thursday, 11 September 2025, 5:14 pm
Article: Moana Ellis - Local Democracy Reporter

Whanganui District Council’s chief executive says the omission of Māori Ward candidate profiles from official voting packs is “incredibly disappointing”. 

David Langford has demanded urgent action from elections management services company electionz.com to put things right. 

Voting papers delivered this week list the names of the five Māori ward candidates – Kiritahi Firmin, Julie Herewini, Geoff Hipango, Hayden Potaka and Phil (Bear) Reweti – but their official statements are missing from the candidate booklet sent to every voter. 

The five candidates are vying for the council's first two Māori ward seats. 

Langford said the private company, contracted to run the election, had assured him it had already started the process of sending the missing information to voters. 

He was due to meet with the company’s managing director this afternoon. 

“ElectionNZ is employed to run the election process and the council’s role is to promote the election and encourage voter participation,” Langford said. 

He warned the blunder could undermine confidence in this year’s Māori Ward referendum. 

“Just over half of submissions received when we consulted our community last year were in favour of Māori wards, and we’re concerned this incident could have a negative impact on this year’s referendum,” he said. 

“While this error was not a council mistake, I apologise to our Māori ward candidates and voting community. 

“This is not a mana-enhancing way to treat our Māori ward candidates, who’ve taken the courageous step of putting themselves forward,” he said. 

All 4810 Māori ward electors are now being sent an individual letter with the candidate profiles included. 

Several of the candidates along with Whanganui mayor Andrew Tripe and councillor Charlotte Melser have called for the missing information to be distributed to the whole community, not just those on the Māori roll.

 Langford acknowledged electionz.com’s swift apology and backed calls for a review of the incident.

“Examining mistakes is the only way we learn from them, so they are not repeated.” 

External electoral officer for the Whanganui District Council election, Warwick Lampp, of electionz.com, said he was made aware of the omission late on Tuesday morning. 

“This was simply human error, which missed this in the proofing and printing process,” he told Local Democracy Reporting. 

“I have put in place steps to remedy it by media release and individual letter to each elector on the Māori roll. I have personally phoned each of the five candidates to apologise.” 

-LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air

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