This bill would change how individuals and communities are represented through local elections. It would also change how they participate in local elections.

This bill would provide a revised process for deciding who sits on local councils including instating a process that would aim to encourage equitable Māori representation. It would change the process councils follow every six years to determine their representation arrangements, making consideration of specific Māori representation the first step of this process.

The bill would change the current restriction on the number of councilors on Auckland Council from 20 to range from 5 to 29. This change aligns the Local Government (Auckland Council) Act 2009 with the local Electoral Act 2001.

This bill would also simplify the process used to change local board boundaries and the process for dealing with tied votes. Finally, it would allow all candidates to submit electronic nominations.

The bill would amend the following Acts: Local Electoral Act 2001, Local Government Act 2002, Local Government (Auckland Council) Act 2009, Local Electoral Regulations 2001 and the Bay of Plenty Regional Council (Maori Constituency Empowering) Act 2001 for consistency with the changes made to the Local Electoral Act 2001.

Tell the Governance and administration Committee what you think

Make a submission on the bill by 11.59pm on 14 September 2022.

For more details about the bill:

· Read the full content of the bill

· What’s been said in Parliament about the bill?

· Follow the committee’s Facebook page for updates

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