Local Electoral Act 2001

Conduct of elections and polls - Voting, processing, and counting of votes

88: What happens if same person elected as mayor and another member

You could also call this:

"What happens if you're elected as both mayor and another member at the same time?"

Illustration for Local Electoral Act 2001

If you are elected as the mayor and another member of a territorial authority at the same time, you will be treated as having given up the other member position. If this happens and the election used the First Past the Post system, the electoral officer will announce a new winner from the remaining candidates, using section 86. This new winner will be the person who got the most votes but was not elected. If the election used the Single Transferable Voting system, the electoral officer will work out who would have won if you had not stood for the other member position, using section 86. They will then announce this person as the new winner. In some cases, there might not be another candidate who can be declared the winner, and this will create an extraordinary vacancy. The 21-day period for challenging the election result will start from the date of the new announcement, as stated in section 93(2). You will come into office as mayor, and the other position will be filled by the new winner or will become vacant. If the district is divided into wards, the electoral officer will follow similar steps to find a new winner for that ward.

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This page was last updated on 26 November 2025

View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM94707.

Topics:

Government and voting > Local councilsGovernment and voting > Elections

87: Death or incapacity of elected candidate before declaration of result of election, or

"What happens if an elected candidate dies or can't take office before the election result is announced"

88A: What happens if same person elected to both territorial authority and local board or community board, or

"If you're elected to two jobs, you'll have to give up one of them."

Part 3Conduct of elections and polls
Voting, processing, and counting of votes

88What happens if same person elected as mayor and another member

If, at any elections for the mayor and a member or members of a territorial authority held at the same time, a person is declared to be elected as the mayor and that person is also elected to be another member (and that person is not deprived of either office by a recount under section 92 or on a petition under section 93), that person is to be treated as having vacated office as another member.
If subsection (1) applies and the elections were conducted using the First Past the Post electoral system, then,—
subject to paragraph (b), the electoral officer conducting the election must give an amended declaration under section 86 declaring the highest polling unelected candidate at the election to be elected; and
if the district of the territorial authority is divided into wards for electoral purposes, the electoral officer conducting the election must give an amended declaration under section 86 declaring the highest polling unelected candidate at the election in the ward at which the person elected as mayor was also elected as another member to be elected.

If subsection (1) applies and the elections were conducted using the Single Transferable Voting electoral system, then,—
subject to paragraph (b), the electoral officer must—
1. determine, in accordance with any regulations made under this Act, the unelected candidate who would have been declared to be elected if the person elected as mayor had not stood at the election; and
2. give an amended declaration under section 86 declaring that unelected candidate to be elected:
if the district of the territorial authority is divided into wards for electoral purposes, the electoral officer conducting the election must—
1. determine, in accordance with any regulations made under this Act, the unelected candidate who would have been declared to be elected at the election in the ward at which the person who was elected as mayor was also elected as another member, if the person elected as mayor had not stood at that election; and
2. give an amended declaration under section 86 declaring that unelected candidate to be elected.

In every case to which subsection (2) or subsection (3) applies, the period of 21 days referred to in section 93(2) in respect of the person declared by that amended declaration to be elected as a member, begins to run from the date of the amended declaration.
If there is no other candidate who may lawfully be declared to be elected by means of the amended declaration, an extraordinary vacancy in the office of member is to be treated as having occurred on the date on which the mayor came into office as mayor.

Compare

1974 No 66 s 101W

Notes

Section 88(3)(a)(i): amended, on 25 December 2002, by section 32(a) of the Local Electoral Amendment Act 2002 (2002 No 85).
Section 88(3)(b)(i): amended, on 25 December 2002, by section 32(b) of the Local Electoral Amendment Act 2002 (2002 No 85).