- CLEINE, Jamie (2,244)
- O’DEA, Patrick (1,284)
- OSMASTON, Richard – Money Free Party New Zealand (116)
- INFORMAL (3)
- BLANK VOTING PAPERS (181)
I therefore declare Jamie CLEINE as elected.
Council elections
Every three years, Buller residents vote for a mayor, councillors, and community board members to represent their community.
The Buller District Council consists of 11 elected members, the Mayor and 10 councillors. The current Council was sworn in on 19 October 2022.
The Buller District is divided into three wards – Seddon (2 elected representatives), Westport (6 elected representatives) and Inangahua (2 elected representatives). There are also four representatives on the Inangahua Community Board.
Wards are areas of a district identified for electoral purposes. They work in the same way as seats in a general election. Currently, people can only vote for candidates in their wards, but everyone gets to vote for who they want to be mayor.
Although candidates stand for their ward area when voted on to the council, councillors swear an oath to work for the entire district. The idea of the ward system is that all parts of the district are fairly represented. We have a detailed map of the wards available to find out what ward you live in.
Buller District Council elected members
The final results for the Buller District Council held on Saturday, 8 October 2022, are below. You can find out more about your elected members on our Mayor and Councillor page.
Mayor
- Mayor - Jamie Cleine
Inangahua Ward
- Linda Webb
- Graeme Neylon
Seddon Ward
- Rosalie Sampson
- Toni O’Keefe
Westport Ward
- Joanne Howard
- Phil Grafton
- Grant Weston
- Annelise Pfahlert
- Andrew Basher
- Colin Reidy
Non-elected Maori Portfolio Councillor
- Ned Tauwhare
Buller District Council 2022 Triennial Elections final results
The final 2022 results and voting details are found below, as declared by John Rodger, Buller District Council Electoral Officer:
Seddon Ward (2 vacancies) - votes received
- SAMPSON, Rosalie Mary (429)
- O’KEEFE, Toni – Independent (297)
- LIGHTBOWN, Barry – Independent (219)
- HILTON, Jim – Independent (207)
- MARSH, Dick (Richard) (155)
- INFORMAL (1)
- BLANK VOTING PAPERS (12)
I therefore declare Rosalie Mary SAMPSON and Toni O’KEEFE as elected.
Inangahua Ward (2 vacancies) - votes received
- WEBB, Linda (366)
- NEYLON, Graeme (364)
- SMITH, Kevin (146)
- INFORMAL (0)
- BLANK VOTING PAPERS (16)
I therefore declare Linda WEBB and Graeme NEYLON as elected.
Westport Ward (6 vacancies) - votes received
- HOWARD, Joanne (1,532)
- GRAFTON, Phil (1,342)
- WESTON, Grant (1,323)
- PFAHLERT, Annelise (1,260)
- BASHER, Andrew (1,149)
- REIDY, Colin – Independent (1,026)
- BEAUMONT, Andrew (849)
- VAEGA, Ruth (840)
- MCDONALD, Rehia (832)
- PHILLIPS, Douglas (707)
- KOLFF, Anni (482)
- STEELE CLARKSON, Mikaere (168)
- INFORMAL (3)
- BLANK VOTING PAPERS (50)
I therefore declare Joanne HOWARD, Phil GRAFTON, Grant WESTON, Annelise PFAHLERT, Andrew BASHER, and Colin REIDY as elected.
Inangahua Community Board (4 vacancies)
As there were only the four nominees for the 4 vacancies, the following are declared elected: Dean GIDDENS, Alun BOLLINGER, Robyn ABBEY, and Ashleigh NEIL.
The voter return for the Buller District was 48.2%, being 3,748 votes, excluding special votes.
Although there were two other issues in the Buller, being the election of two Buller councillors for the West Coast Regional Council, and the election of one Buller trustee for Development West Coast, the final results for these will be declared by the respective Electoral Officers, and these will be available on the Regional Council website www.wcrc.govt.nz or the DWC website www.westcoast.co.nz/development-west-coast
John Rodger
Electoral Officer
Buller District Council
14 October 2022
Electoral donations and expenses
Find the full electoral donations and expenses for all candidates below.
Electoral donations and expenses 2022
- Ivor Philip Grafton 2022
- James Hilton 2022
- Jamie Cleine 2022
- Joanne Howard 2022
- Linda Webb 2022
- Patrick O'Dea 2022
- Rehia Mcdonald 2022
- Richard Marsh 2022
- Richard Osmaston 2022
- Robyn Abbey 2022
- Rosalie Sampson 2022
- Ruth Vaega 2022
- Toni O'keefe 2022
- Alun Bollinger 2022
- Andrew Basher 2022
- Andrew Beaumont 2022
- Annelise Pfahlert 2022
- Anni Kolff 2022
- Ashleigh Neil 2022
- Barry Lightbown 2022
- Colin Reidy 2022
- Daniel Reynolds 2022
- Dean Giddens 2022
- Douglas Phillips 2022
- Graeme Neylon 2022
- Grant Weston 2022
Electoral donations and expenses 2019
- A Beaumont 2019
- A Halsall Quinlan 2019
- Anon 2019
- Anon 2019.1
- B Oldham 2019
- C Brunning 2019
- C Cooper 2019
- C White 2019
- D Bergman 2019
- D Hawes 2019
- G Weston 2019
- J Bougen 2019
- J Cleine 2019
- J Howard 2019
- J Walsh 2019
- M Hill 2019
- M Montgomery 2019
- M O'loughlin 2019
- P Howard 2019
- P O'dea 2019
- P Rutherford 2019
- R Nahr 2019
- R Sampson 2019
- R Vaega 2019
- S Roche 2019
- W J Vaile 2019
Electoral donations and expenses 2018 Seddon Ward by-election
Council resolution on electoral system
In accordance with section 28 of the Local Electoral Act 2001 (Act), Council has resolved to use ‘First Past the Post’ (FPP) as its Electoral System for the 2025 and 2028 Triennial Elections.
Council resolution on electoral system and the right to demand a poll
Below is the Resolution of Council from the meeting held on Wednesday 30 August 2023
RESOLVED that the Council:
In accordance with section 28 of the Local Electoral Act 2001 (Act), notice is given that the Buller District Council has resolved at its meeting on 30 August 2023, to use ‘First Past the Post’ (FPP) as its Electoral System for the 2025 and 2028 Triennial Elections.
Electors have the right to demand a poll, in accordance with section 29 of the Act, to countermand this resolution.
The choice is between the FPP and the Single Transferable Vote (STV) electoral systems. Unless a poll or further resolution determines otherwise, the FPP electoral system will continue to be used by Buller District Council.
A valid demand for a poll must be:
- Made in writing;
- Signed by at least five percent of the number of electors enrolled as eligible to vote at the previous triennial election of the Buller District Council (the five percent threshold from the 2022 electoral roll is 389 elector signatures); and
- Delivered to the Electoral Officer of the Buller District Council, 6-8 Brougham Street, Westport by 11 December 2023.
Every elector who signs a demand must also provide their full name and the address for which they are qualified as an elector of the Buller District Council.
If a valid demand for a poll is received by 11 December 2023, the poll will be held no later than 14 March 2024, and will have effect for the 2025 and 2028 triennial general elections. If however a valid demand for a poll is received after 11 December 2023, then the poll will be held after 14 March 2024, and will have effect for the 2028 and 2031 elections.
Dated at Buller this 31st day of August 2023.
Ratepayer voting - find out if you're eligible and how to enrol
Do you live in one area and pay rates on a property in another area? Did you know you may qualify to vote in both areas at the local authority elections in October 2025?
Voting is a way to have your say on what happens in your local community. If you’d like to vote in this election, read on to find out if you’re eligible, and how to enrol.
Electors fall into two categories:
Residential electors – If you are registered to vote on the electoral roll, you are automatically enrolled to vote in local authority elections. You will receive a voting document so that you can vote by post.
Ratepayer electors – You may also be eligible to enrol as a non-resident ratepayer elector in a council district if both of the following apply:
- You are on the district valuation roll and pay rates in the council district
- The address where you are registered as a parliamentary elector is outside that council district.
Your eligibility to enrol or be nominated as a ratepayer elector may also depend on your individual circumstances as determined by criteria in the Local Electoral Act 2001 and its regulations.
The Ratepayer Electoral Roll closes on 1 August 2025, so enrol now online or download a hard copy form to submit by post or email.
