Pōneke election 2022 by the numbers

• One Mayor
• 15 Councillors
• 12 Community Board members
• 200 social media posts with a reach over 889,307 including 202,835 TikTok views
• 32 pop-up activations
• 25 stakeholder engagements
• 22 news and media stories
• 651 radio ads
• 7 billboards locations
• 188 billstickers
• Over 180 staff involved
• 160,449 voting papers
• 54 ballot box locations
• 9,711 final day votes
• 43.27% voter turn-out (plus an extra 3,621 special votes).

It was also an election of firsts with ballot bins in every supermarket and library across the city, Nīkau Wi Neera winning the new Te Whanganui-a-Tara Māori Ward seat, and the first time the inauguration ceremony has been held on a marae.

Accessibility was a key focus, with general details about the election available in New Zealand sign language, audio, large print, and e-text formats, and candidate statements were available in large print, audio and braille files for the first time nationwide.

Resource packs included specific information on enrolling and voting with additional needs, and there were more places to cast a special vote in Wellington than ever before.

Enrolment information was available on Vote.nz in several different languages including te reo Māori, NZSL, Arabic, Burmese, Chinese, Farsi, Tokelauan, Tongan, and Vietnamese.

Braille books of candidate statements for the Wellington City Council were available at six public libraries and Blind Low Vision NZ.

The approach to the te ao Māori components of the election included several unique features like direct mail sent to all Wellington-based Māori organisations, Māori specific messaging commissioned to use for the enrol, stand and vote collateral, and a Māori ward info section included in Get Set to Elect webinar.

Top ten most visited pages on wellington.govt.nz – 26 September to 12 October