2022 Otago Regional Council election

2022 Otago Regional Council Election

← 2019 8 October 2022 2025 →

The 2022 Otago Regional Council election began with postal voting on 16th Sept 2022 and ended at noon on Sat 8 October 2022, as part of the wider 2022 New Zealand local elections. Voting was by first past the post. ^[1] The Otago Regional Council makes decisions about managing resources in the region, such as air, water, soil and the coastline. It also carries out plant and pest control, helps prepare for natural disasters, and is involved in regional transport, particularly buses. The council is made up of 11 councillors. Councillors are elected to represent constituencies (areas in the region). ^[2] The previous election was in 2019 ^[3] and there was some controversy in the council.

The first progress results indicated that there would be at least four new councillors but some progress results were close, within 1 vote, however the final count put Michael Laws 21 ahead. ^{[4] [5]} Notable new councillors were a candidate representing the Greens (Alan Somerville) and a 21 year old non-binary councillor (Elliot Weir) ^[6] The Council elected Gretchen Robertson (the highest polling candidate with 15 years experience) as the chair (7 to 5) and new councillor Lloyd McCall as deputy (7 to 5). The previous chair (Cr Noone) said he was no longer the best person for the role. ^[7]

Candidates and Results

Results of the 2022 Otago Regional Council triennial election: ^[8]

Dunedin Regional Constituency of the Otago Regional Council
No.	Name	Affiliation	Votes	Status
1	Gretchen Robertson	–	17,401	Re-elected Y
2	Bryan Scott	Independent	15,172	Re-elected Y
3	Andrew Noone	–	15,106	Re-elected Y
4	Elliot Weir	–	12,517	Elected Y
5	Alan Somerville	Green Ōtepoti	11,235	Elected Y
6	Tim Mepham	–	11,114	Elected Y
	Richard Anderson	–	9,559
	Malcolm Budd	–	8,917
	Bill Southworth	Labour	8,722
	Ross Davies	Climate - Buses - Water - Air	8,654
	Geoff Lyell	Independent	7,455
	James Cockle	Independent	6,401
	Mathew Kiore	–	6,175
	Watson Pita	–	5,115
	Jenn Shulzitski (Slime)	Slime the Nitrate Monster	3,367
Informal			354
Blank			4,085

Dunstan Regional Constituency of the Otago Regional Council
No.	Name	Affiliation	Votes	Status
1	Gary Kelliher	–	9,885	Re-elected Y
2	Alexa Forbes	–	9,874	Re-elected Y
3	Michael Laws	–	9,517	Re-elected Y
	Tony Lepper	–	9,496
	Mike Barker	–	6,283
Informal			102
Blank			1,439

Moeraki Constituency of the Otago Regional Council
No.	Name	Affiliation	Votes	Status
1	Kevin Malcolm	–	Re-elected (Unopposed) Y
Informal			N/A
Blank			N/A

Molyneux Regional Constituency of the Otago Regional Council
No.	Name	Affiliation	Votes	Status
1	Lloyd McCall	–	8,487	Elected Y
2	Kate Wilson	–	6,763	Re-elected Y
	Carmen Felicity Hope (Nee Knowler)	–	6,460	Defeated N
Informal			123
Blank			2,025

See also

• 2022 Dunedin local elections

References

1. "Local elections How and when to vote". ORC. Retrieved 25 September 2022.
2. "Policy.nz". policy.nz Local Elections 2022. Retrieved 25 September 2022.
3. "2019 Election results - Otago Regional Council". Dunedin City Council. Retrieved 25 September 2022.
4. ELT99ORC22_Results. "Otago Regional Council 2022 Triennial Elections PROGRESS RESULT". Electionz.com. Retrieved 8 October 2022.
5. "ORC preliminary results". 8 October 2022. Retrieved 9 October 2022.
6. Saunders, Cas (10 October 2022). "Fresh face wins the youth vote". Otago Daily Times . Retrieved 28 October 2022.
7. "Robertson elected the new ORC chair (". Otago Daily Times . 26 October 2022. Retrieved 28 October 2022.
8. "Declaration of Result - 2022 Triennial Elections - Otago Regional Council" (PDF). Otago Regional Council. 14 October 2022. Archived (PDF) from the original on 20 October 2022. Retrieved 20 October 2022.