Elections

Council elections are held every three years, on the second Saturday in October. The next Council election will be held on 11 October 2025.

Enrolling to Vote

You must be enrolled on either the Māori Electoral Roll or the General Electoral Roll in order to vote in both Council elections and National elections.

Recent changes in legislation mean that if you are Māori and enrolled to vote, you can now choose between the Māori roll and the General roll at any time up until 3 months before a relevant election, which includes Local Council elections, National elections, and any by-elections (in your area).

To enrol for the first time or to change between rolls, please visit the Electoral Commission's website here.

Māori Roll or General Roll?

Anyone of Māori descent can choose between the Māori roll and General roll, but cannot be on both. The size of electorates (for National Elections) and number of wards (for Local Council elections) is based on the number of people on the General roll and Māori roll. For example, if more voters moved to the Māori roll in future years, this would then increase the number of Māori electorates and number of Māori wards across the country, and vice versa.

National Election 2023

There are usually 120 members voted into parliament. Of these, 65 are from General electorates, 7 from Māori electorates and the remaining 48 are "List MP's", which means that these individuals are chosen by the political party that they belong to, depending on how many extra seats that party won in the election.

The key difference for voters to consider when choosing between the Māori roll or the General roll is whether they want to vote for the General electorate that they live in, or the Māori electorate that they live in. If you live in the Manawatu, this means that you'll vote for either:

• Rangitikei Electorate (if on the General roll) - this area of land stretches as far south as Shannon and as far north as Taumarunui.
• Te Tai Hauāuru (if on the Māori roll) - this area of land is significantly larger, stretching from Porirua up to Southern Waikato.

The Electoral Commission shows a map of electorates for the 2023 National election here.

Local Council Election 2025

The Manawatu Council currently has 12 elected members, made up of:

• 1 Mayor
• 5 Feilding ward councillors
• 5 Rural ward councillors
• 1 Māori ward councillor

If you are on the General roll, you will vote for either Feilding or Rural ward candidates (depending on where you live), and if you are on the Māori roll you will vote for Māori ward candidates.