Candidate videos now live: Get to know who’s standing for Kaipara

With local elections fast approaching, Kaipara residents have the opportunity to hear directly from those seeking to represent them with the introduction of short candidate videos. 

Thirty-two candidates have put themselves forward this term, including four contenders for mayor, and twenty-eight vying for councillor positions in the Wairoa Ward, Otamatea Ward and Kaiwaka-Mangawhai Ward.

This year, each candidate was also given the opportunity to record a short video message for voters. Candidates were given the same four questions about themselves, their priorities, why they are right for the role, and the challenges facing the district, with the video message no more than 90 seconds. All videos were filmed at council offices and in the same format. 

Kaipara District Council Chief Executive Jason Marris says the candidate videos are another tool to help people participate in local elections. 

“These videos give voters a chance to hear directly from candidates, helping them to make informed choices about who to vote for. It’s another way to help get to know who’s standing, alongside the candidate profiles which are also up on our website.”

Jason also recommends checking in with local community groups and organisations to find out more about community-led meet the candidate events in the district. 

View the candidate videos and read their profiles now by heading to the Kaipara District Council website at kaipara.govt.nz/candidates.

• Candidate videos are one continuous take and have only been lightly edited -- intro/outro, captions, name tag and background 

Information for voters 

Enrol to vote 

Make sure your voice is heard in this local election. If you are still to enrol or update your details you can do this until the day before election day 10th October 2025 at vote.nz. If you enrolled after 1 August you will need a special vote and you won’t receive your voting papers in the mail. 

Māori roll and general roll 

If you’re of Māori descent, you can choose your roll when you first enrol, and that decision shapes who you vote for in both local and general elections. You can switch rolls any time except during the three months before a general or local election. To change rolls ahead of Kaipara District Council's 2025 local elections you needed to have done this by midnight 10 July 2025.

 For this election, regardless of whether you are on the Māori roll or the general roll you vote for a mayor plus the ward you live in (Wairoa, Otamatea or Kaiwaka-Mangawhai).

For Northland Regional Council elections, Māori roll voters will vote for candidates in its Māori constituency - Te Raki, general roll voters will vote in their general constituency, and all voters (including those in Kaipara) will be asked to vote on whether to keep or remove the Northland Regional Council Māori constituency, Te Raki Māori, for 2028 and 2031. 

Voting 

The 2025 local elections are run by postal voting, and voting kicks off Tuesday 9 September and runs through to 12 noon Saturday 11 October. People enrolled (prior to 1 August) can expect to receive their voting packs in the mail from 9 September There will also be drop-off ballot boxes at local supermarkets (Dargaville Woolworths, Kaiwaka Four Square, Ruawai Four Square, Maungatūroto Four Square, Mangawhai New World, Dargaville and Mangawhai council office and Dargaville and Mangawhai Libraries), as well as a mobile voting route for the communities outside the main hubs in Kaipara. We will be sharing more on this closer to voting opening 9 September 2025. Remember, if you enrolled after 1 August you won’t get your voting papers in the mail and you will need a special vote. 

Electoral system 

For this election Kaipara District Council are using First Past the Post (FPP). This means the candidate(s) with the most votes win. You get a tick for each position available - Mayor (1), and then the ward you live in - Wairoa Ward (3), Otamatea Ward (2) or Kaiwaka-Mangawhai (3). 

Northland Regional Council also use the FPP system