During local elections, you can vote for the Mayor, a ward councillor and community board members.

Local Elections 2025

Council elections are conducted by postal vote.

For the 2025 local elections, voting documents will be delivered between 9 September and 22 September 2025, and voting closes at noon on 11 October.

Each elector, after receiving their voting document, should complete it, seal it in the return postage-paid envelope and post or deliver it to a vote bin. Electors at the same address may receive their voting documents on different days.

If hand delivered, completed voting documents can be returned to Christchurch City Council Civic Offices, 53 Hereford Street, and Christchurch City Council libraries, customer service hubs, recreation and sports centres and other locations in the community. Some customer service hubs may not be open on election day.

Vote bin locations(external link) are included in voting documents.

People who are eligible to vote but who do not receive a voting paper in the post are able to request and complete a special vote(external link).

Anyone who is not able to complete a postal vote independently due to disability is invited to contact the Elections team at elections@ccc.govt.nz or phone 03 941 8999.

Posting your vote

Put your completed voting papers in the postage-paid envelope. Don’t include anyone else’s voting papers in your envelope.

When posting, voting documents should be posted no later than 5pm on Tuesday 7 October to guarantee delivery before the close of voting. 

Post your completed voting papers into any NZ Post or DX Mail postbox. You can use the PostShop/Kiwibank locator(external link) to find out where post boxes are located in your area.

You can also hand-deliver your vote to a voting bin(external link).

The details and profile statements for all candidates in local elections and by-elections are made available after the nominations close. This information will also be sent to electors with voting documents.

Christchurch City Council has two decision-making parts: the Council and Community Boards.

During the 2025 local elections, you can vote for:

  • The Mayor
  • A ward councillor
  • Community board members for your local community board

Find your ward and community board.

The term for elected members is three years.

Council

The Council is made up of the Mayor and 16 councillors. It makes decisions important to Christchurch as a whole.

All Christchurch voters elect the Mayor, while councillors are elected by voters from the ward they represent.

Community Boards

The six community boards represent their individual areas and cover three wards, with the exception of the Banks Peninsula ward, which has its own community board.

Each community board in the city has nine members, elected by voters from the areas they represent. The Banks Peninsula community board has eight. Councillors are also appointed to the community board covering their ward.

Community boards make decisions on local issues, activities and facilities, and help build strong communities.

Environment Canterbury

Environment Canterbury also holds elections at the same time as us. Find out more.(external link)

There are many reasons you could cast a special vote in an election, including:

  • Your name does not appear on the final electoral roll, but you qualify as an elector.
  • You have chosen to put your name on the unpublished (confidential) roll.
  • You have moved since the electoral roll was compiled (and have lived at your new residential address for one month or more).
  • You spoiled, lost or did not receive your ordinary voting document.
  • You will be away from your residential address during the voting period.
  • You are eligible to vote for some positions in the elections as a ratepayer elector (for a property you own but do not live in).

Special voting documents are available to electors:

  • Whose names do not appear on the final electoral roll, but who qualify as electors.
  • Who have not received a voting document previously posted to them.
  • Who spoils or damages a voting document previously posted to them.

Special voting documents will be available during normal opening hours Monday to Friday at a number of council customer service hubs from Friday 9 September until Friday 10 October 2025.

Some sites will also be open on Saturday 4 and Sunday 5 October 2025 and on election day 11 October 2025 for the purpose of issuing special voting documents. You can also phone 03 941 8999 or email elections@ccc.govt.nz.

Special voting documents can be posted to electors. The completed voting paper must be returned to the electoral officer by post or in a vote bin by noon on election day.

Special voters must complete a statutory declaration. This is a legal requirement and a protection for electors against possible duplicate voting. If an elector requests a special vote and is not on the parliamentary roll, for example, they have just turned 18 years of age, the person must enrol by Friday 10 October.

An application for registration as a parliamentary elector may be obtained:

After voting closes, special vote declarations are forwarded to the Registrar of Electors for verification that the elector is eligible and has enrolled as a parliamentary elector.

Special voting documents cannot be collected by candidates or their assistants for distribution to electors.

On election day, Saturday 11 October, completed voting documents can be returned to all open Christchurch City Council libraries, recreation centres and other locations in the community, and Christchurch City Council Te Hononga Civic Offices, until noon.

How to return your completed voting paper

Post into any NZ Post or DX Mail postbox by Tuesday 7 October 2025 or drop your completed voting paper into any of the orange vote bins at the following locations:

Council locations
Christchurch City Council, Te Hononga Civic Offices, 53 Hereford Street
Akaroa Library, 2 Selwyn Avenue, Akaroa
Akaroa Customer Service Hub, 78 Rue Lavaud, Akaroa
Aranui Library, 109 Aldershot Street, Aranui
Beckenham Customer Service Hub, Pioneer Recreation and Sport Centre, 75 Lyttelton Street
Diamond Harbour Library, Waipapa Avenue, Diamond Harbour
Fendalton Library and Customer Service Hub, 4 Jeffreys Road, Fendalton
Linwood Library and Customer Service Hub, Eastgate Shopping Centre, first floor, Corner Buckleys Road and Linwood Avenue, Linwood
Little River Library and Customer Service Hub, 4236 Christchurch Akaroa Road
Lyttelton Library and Customer Service Hub, 18 Canterbury Street, Lyttelton
Matatiki Hornby Centre, 25 Smarts Road, Hornby
Matuku Takotako: Sumner Centre, 14 Wakefield Avenue
New Brighton Library, 213 Marine Parade, New Brighton
Ōrauwhata: Bishopdale Library and Community Centre, 13 Bishopdale Court, Bishopdale
Papanui Library and Customer Service Hub, 5 Restell Street, Papanui
Parklands Library, 46 Queenspark Drive, Parklands
Redwood Library, 339 Main North Road, Redwood
Riccarton Customer Service Hub, 199 Clarence Street, Riccarton
Shirley Library and Customer Service Hub, 36 Marshland Road, Shirley
South Colombo Library, 262 Colombo Street, Sydenham
Spreydon Library, 266 Barrington Street, Barrington
Te Hāpua Halswell Centre, 341 Halswell Road, Halswell
Tūranga, 60 Cathedral Square
Upper Riccarton Library, 71 Main South Road, Sockburn
Graham Condon Recreation and Sports Centre, 3 Sisson Drive, Papanui
Jellie Park Recreation and Sports Centre, 295 Ilam Road, Burnside
Pioneer Recreation and Sport Centre, 75 Lyttelton Street, Somerfield
Taiora QEII Recreation and Sports Centre, 193 Travis Road, New Brighton
Te Pou Toetoe Linwood Pool, 141 Smith Street, Linwood
Environment Canterbury, 200 Tuam Street

 

Supermarkets and community locations
Christchurch International Airport, 30 Durey Road, Harewood
Puaka James Hight Library, University of Canterbury, Ilam Campus, Ilam
Avonhead Woolworths, Corner Withells Road & Merrin Street, Avonhead
Belfast Woolworths, 755 Main North Road, Belfast
Christchurch Airport Woolworths, 530 - 546A Memorial Avenue, Christchurch Airport
Church Corner Woolworths, Corner Riccarton Road & Hansons Lane, Riccarton
Eastgate Woolworths, 6 Buckleys Road, Linwood
Ferrymead Woolworths, 999 Ferry Road, Ferrymead
Hornby Woolworths, 17 Chappie Place, Hornby
Moorhouse Ave Woolworths, 347 Moorhouse Avenue, Central City
New Brighton Woolworths, 12 Hawke Street, New Brighton
Northlands Woolworths, Corner Main North Road & Sawyers Arms Road, Papanui
The Palms Woolworths, The Palms Plaza, Marshland Road, Shirley
Woolworths Colombo St, 219 Colombo Street, Sydenham
Fresh Choice Edgeware, 61 Edgeware Road, Edgeware
Fresh Choice Fendalton, 376 Ilam Road, Bryndwr
Fresh Choice Lyttelton, 17 London Street, Lyttelton
Fresh Choice Parklands, 60 Queenspark Drive, Parklands
New World Bishopdale, Bishopdale Mall, Corner Farrington Avenue and Harewood Road
New World Durham Street, 175 Durham Street, Central City
New World Ferry Road, 7-11 St John Street, Woolston
New World Halswell, 346 Halswell Road, Halswell
New World Ilam, 47C - 57C Peer Street, Upper Riccarton
New World Northwood, 2 Mounter Avenue, Northwood
New World Prestons, 420 Marshland Road, Marshland
New World St Martins, 92 Wilsons Road, St Martins
New World Wigram, 51 Skyhawk Road, Wigram
Pak'nSave Wainoni, 174 Wainoni Road, Avondale