August 4 'election day' for vacant Invercargill council seat

“This is a unique opportunity for people to put their hand up to join our established Councillors in representing the Invercargill district."

Nominations for the looming Invercargill City Council by-election will open on Thursday, with election day in August.

The by-election will be held in August to fill the vacancy left by Nigel Skelt following his resignation from council last week.

Fellow councillors Ria Bond and Peter Kett called for Skelt to resign after it was made public that Skelt was the subject of a harassment complaint while in his role as Stadium Southland general manager.

In the event of the resignation of an elected member at this stage of the term, the Local Electoral Act 2001 requires a by-election to be held.

Invercargill City Council Deputy Electoral Officer Michael Morris said nominations for candidates would open this Thursday 11 May and would close at noon Thursday 8 June, with election day set to be held on Friday 4 August.

“This is a unique opportunity for people to put their hand up to join our established Councillors in representing the Invercargill district.

“I encourage anyone who believes they will best serve the community to seek nominations and become a candidate.”

Nomination forms for people wishing to run are on the Council’s website www.icc.govt.nz, Morris said.

“Any New Zealand citizen who is on the electoral roll, living anywhere in the country, is able to run. The only other prerequisite is they need to be nominated by two people who live in the Invercargill district.

“Anyone who is wanting more information on becoming a Councillor is more than welcome to get in touch with us at Council and we will tell you everything you need.”

Morris was hoping for another busy election period.

“There was a great deal of interest in the elections held last year and I’m hoping we will find a similar level of interest in the coming months,” he said.

This was also a good time for people to update their details in preparation for the voting process, which could be easily done online at www.vote.nz/enrol-or-update/enrol-or-update-online, he said.

Nominations for candidates are open from 11 May to 8 June and voting papers will begin arriving in mailboxes from 13 July. Election day will take place on 4 August and information on voting locations will be available on the council’s website.