Make sure you've enrolled to vote in Otago before 1 August to receive your voting papers
Check your detailsMake sure you've enrolled to vote in Otago before 1 August to receive your voting papers
If you enrolled prior to 1 August 2025, your voting papers will be sent from 9 September.
Votes must be returned by 12 noon Saturday, 11 October 2025.
You can post your voting paper in or place them into one of the Council’s secure ballot boxes — located in public locations, such as libraries, across Otago.
You can vote in the local elections if you are on the electoral roll and live in the Otago region.
If you live outside the Otago region but own property here, you can also vote.
Make sure you are properly enrolled for Otago — this is really important if you have only recently moved here (students, this means you too!)
By voting in your local body elections, you have your say on who will make decisions on Otago's future for the next three years.
Otago Regional Council is responsible for promoting the economic, social, cultural and environmental wellbeing of the region.
Our work covers all of Otago and our focus is on the environment and natural resources:
Special votes can be made in person at the DCC’s Plaza Meeting Room, Ground floor of the Civic Centre in The Octagon from 8.30am to 5pm daily, 9 September to 10 October and 8.30am to noon, Saturday, 11 October.
Dunedin City Council - 50 The Octagon
This election features a range of bright orange secure voting bins for eligible voters to drop off their completed papers until 12 noon Friday 10 October 2025.
These can be found at:
Below are the voting locations in Central Otago, including for Special Votes.
Special votes can be made in person during normal business hours from 9 September to 10 October at:
Special voting and collection of votes can be done on Saturday, 11 October until noon at the main Alexandra office.
Special votes can be made in person during normal business hours from 9 September to 10 October at both Queenstown or Wānaka offices. The Queenstown office will be open 8am until noon on Saturday 11 October.
A polling place for the issuing of special voting documents and for the receiving of completed voting documents will be available from Friday 9 September to noon Saturday 11 October at:
On Election Day ordinary votes can be returned, and special votes issued and returned, from 9am to noon at:
Special voting documents will be available from Tuesday 8 September.
Last day to cast your vote is 8am to 12 noon on Saturday 11 October 2025.
Ballots may also be posted from any NZ Post Post Box located across the region.
For help finding your nearest Post Box, use the NZ Post locator.
Voters rank candidates in order of preference. Under STV, you would write “1” next to the name of your favourite candidate, “2” next to your second favourite candidate and so on until you have ranked your preferences. You do not need to rank all candidates, just those you prefer most.
You still only have one vote, but by showing your preference for candidates, your vote can be transferred if your most preferred candidate is so popular, they don’t need all their votes to cross the election threshold or is not popular with other voters.
In an STV election, candidates must reach a certain number of votes to get elected. This is called a quota and is based on the total number of votes and the number of vacant positions.