Mayoral contender wants to see better voting system

Auckland Mayor Wayne Brown and his most likely contender, Kerrin Leoni, were part of a line-up of local board and council candidates at a public meeting in Karaka on Monday night, September 15.

It comes as voting has begun for the 2025 local elections.

Also in attendance at the Karaka War Memorial Hall were Andy Baker (current councillor), Dene Green, and Les Thomas, who are running for the Auckland Council.

Franklin Local Board candidates included Alan Cole, Andrew Kay (both current), and new candidates, Andrea Leask, Lesieli Oliver, Bas Watson, and Merritt Watson.

About 100 people turned out at the evening event, where hot topics such as rates, roads, pest control and bins were discussed.

Leoni told the Franklin Times she wants to see a higher voter turnout and better education on who to vote for and why.

“The majority of Aucklanders don’t know what local councils and boards do,” she says.

“Last election, there was a 37 per cent turnout for Auckland, and this year I’m expecting it to be 27 per cent.”

Leoni says she wants to see other voting methods rolled out to increase participation.

“If it’s not online, we could move towards voting booths, rather than postal voting”, she says. Leoni says she has attended all the invitations to Meet the Candidates events so far.

She told the Franklin Times Wayne Brown left the Karaka meeting after about “half an hour” and says she has only seen him at three events.

But a spokesperson for the Wayne Brown campaign says this is not the case.

“Wayne Brown has been to dozens of meetings across the city, including many ‘meet the candidates’ events.

“He’s unable to attend every single one, as there are often scheduling conflicts with his mayoral duties, and not all candidates are invited to all meetings. There are 1.2 million potential voters in this election.”

Voting in the local elections can be done by posting it in any New Zealand Post box, before Tuesday, October 7 or dropping it in an orange vote box before 12pm on Saturday, October 11.

Voting boxes will be available in all council libraries, selected supermarkets, retailers and transport stations.