Enrolling to vote
Enrol to vote
If you have not enrolled to vote or updated your address before 5pm on Friday 1 August 2025, you will not receive your voting documents in the post. You can still enrol to vote but you will need to cast a special vote.
You can enrol to vote on the vote.nz website up until Friday 10 October 2025.
Who can enrol to vote
In New Zealand, enrolment for all elections is managed by the Electoral Commission.
You’re eligible to enrol to vote as a Taupō District resident if you:
- are 18 years or older
- are a New Zealand citizen or permanent resident,
- and you’ve lived in New Zealand continuously for 12 months or more at some time in your life.
If you voted in previous local or Parliamentary elections, you should still be enrolled to vote in the Council elections too.
How to enrol if you live in the Taupō District
If you are a Taupō District resident and already enrolled on the parliamentary electoral roll for the general election, you are automatically enrolled on the resident roll to vote in the 2025 local government elections.
If you’re eligible and are voting in an election for the first time, you can enrol using any of the following methods:
- enrol online on the vote.nz website
- complete an enrolment form at any NZ Post Shop
- phone 0800 ENROLL (0800 36 76 56) to arrange for a form to be sent to you in the mail
- send your name and address to Free text 3676 for a form to sent to you in the mail
You can enrol to vote on the vote.nz website up until Friday 10 October 2025.
How to enrol if you are a ratepayer in the Taupō District but don't live here
If you pay rates on a property in the Taupō District but live in a different area, you may be eligible to enrol on the non-resident ratepayer electoral roll.
Companies, businesses, trusts, corporations or societies which are ratepayers of a property in the district or community board area may also nominate an elector to vote on their behalf. The elector needs to reside outside the district or community board area where the property is situated.
This also applies to partners, joint tenants and tenants in common who collectively pay rates on a property in the Taupō District.
You can check your eligibility and enrol by visiting the ElectioNZ ratepayer enrolment portal or enrol by returning the enrolment form below:
How to enrol on the Māori roll
If you’re of Māori descent and enrolling for the first time, you have an important choice to make. You need to decide which electoral roll you want to be on: the general roll or the Māori roll. The roll you choose decides which electorate you vote in for both the central government and local government elections.
- If you choose to be on the Māori roll, you will get to vote for the Mayor, and candidates for the Māori Ward – Te Papamārearea
- If you choose to be on the general roll, you will get to vote for the Mayor, and candidates for one general ward where you live (Taupō Ward, Mangakino/Pouakani Ward, Taupō East Rural Ward or Tūrangi/Tongariro Ward).
You can also change your roll type at any time, except:
- in the 3 months before a general election
- in the 3 months before local elections which are held every 3 years
- before a parliamentary by-election if the change would move you into the electorate where the by-election is being held.
If you are already enrolled to vote and want to change your roll type before the 2025 local elections, you need to make that change before 11 July 2025.
Electoral roll
When you enrol to vote, your name, address and occupation are listed on the electoral roll (an electoral roll is a list of voters enrolled in a voting area).
If you believe that having your details recorded on the printed electoral roll could threaten your personal safety, or that of your family, you can apply with the Electoral Commission to go on the confidential unpublished roll.
