section 19R – Commission to determine appeals and objections section 19S – determination of Commission section 19X – certificate of Government Statistician section 19Y – when determinations take effect. Timelines In the past some local authorities have worked close to the statutory deadlines. In doing so they limited their ability to deal with any unexpected issues that may have arisen, and potentially created problems for themselves later in the process. The Commission encourages all local authorities to get the planning for their reviews underway as early in the relevant triennium as possible, and to set internal deadlines that enable the local authority sufficient flexibility to respond to issues that may arise during the process, while also ensuring the local authority can meet the statutory deadlines. Section 19K(1AA) provides that a formal resolution of initial proposals must not be made before 1 March in the year before the next election. This enables account to be taken of any demand for an electoral system poll or separate Māori representation poll. However this does not preclude local authorities from undertaking preliminary consideration, planning, and consultation well before the 1 March date. In general, the representation review process involves the following Table 1: Representation review timelines Procedure Deadline Relevant section Local authority determines proposed representation arrangements Initial proposals must be made: no earlier than 1 in the year before election year by 31 August in the year before election year, if establishing Māori wards/constituencies in any other case, in time for the deadline for public notice (i.e. by 7 September) 19H (territorial authorities) 19I (regional councils) 19J (community boards) Schedule 1A for wards or constituencies Local authority gives public notice of “initial” proposal and invites submissions Within 14 days of resolution, and not than 8 September in the year before election year 19M(1) Submissions close Not less than one month after public notice 19M(2)(d)
Section 19EC deals with the basis of election for elected members of local boards. It provides three bases of election: subdivisions a local board area comprises two or more whole wards the of the local board area The division of a local board area into electoral subdivisions may be appropriate when the local board area is made up of a number of distinct communities of interest and the formation of subdivisions will provide effective representation of these communities of interest. The issues to consider when deciding whether or not a local board area needs to be subdivided are similar to those which apply to the division of a district into wards discussed in Chapter 5: Fair and effective representation, excluding the mixed system of representation. The fair representation requirements of section 19V (the ‘+/-10% rule’) also apply in respect of subdivisions of local board areas including the permitted exceptions in section 19V(3)(a). The following table sets out specific decisions that need to be made in reviews of local boards under section 19H of the Local Electoral Act 2001. Section Decision 19H(1)(e) The number of members of a local board 19H(1)(f) Whether the members to be elected need to be elected: from the local board area from subdivisions where the local board area comprises two or more whole wards, from those wards 19H(1)(g) Where members are to be elected from subdivisions: the name and boundaries of subdivisions the number of members to be elected from each subdivision (in accordance with the ‘+/-10% rule’ set out in section 19V(2)) 19H(1)(h) members are to be elected from wards, the number to be elected from each ward 19H(1)(i) The names of local boards General All elements of territorial authorities’ representation proposals (including the elements relating to local boards) are subject to rights of appeal and/or objection. Therefore, the issues relating to local boards considered under section 19H need to be as carefully considered as all the other elements of the review.