Papatoetoe local body election results reveal a surprise victor

A Labour candidate has secured top spot in the Papatoetoe local body election in Auckland, with three members of the Papatoetoe Ōtara Action Team also claiming seats.

The preliminary result marks a shift from the 2025 election, where the Papatoetoe Ōtara Action Team swept all four seats.

Although three of its members have been returned in the latest vote, Labour candidate and petitioner of the judicial inquiry Lehopoaome Vi Hausia has emerged as the leading vote-getter, breaking the group's clean sweep.

Vi Hausia secured the top spot with 2788 votes, followed by Jeet Singh of the Papatoetoe Ōtara Action Team with 2484.

Fellow Papatoetoe Ōtara Action Team candidate Sandeep Saini received 2479 votes, while Kushma Nair claimed the fourth and final seat with 2383.

Papatoetoe Ōtara Action Team's Kunal Bhalla narrowly missed out, finishing fifth with 2343 votes.

Preliminary voter turnout for the election was 23.7 percent.

Final results are expected to be confirmed on Friday once special votes have been counted.

Labour's Vi Hausia said it was a "huge sigh of relief" to see the election process conclude.

"It's very heartening to see these results. It's been a very long, long journey," he said. "I'm still processing the information."

Vi Hausia said he would continue advocating for the removal of the postal voting system in local elections.

"I really do hope that this is the last time New Zealand uses postal voting in any of our democratic processes," he said.

Asked whether he was looking forward to working with the three members from the Papatoetoe Ōtara Action Team, Vi Hausia said it was their responsibility to work together for the community.

"I'm confident that we will work together and, of course, there will be differences and there's nothing wrong with that," he said."I do believe we will be able to build on common ground and represent our community."

Nair of the Papatoetoe Ōtara Action Team thanked the community for giving him another opportunity to serve.

"I look forward to working for the community alongside the three other members to ensure that ratepayers get value for the money they contribute to council, and that grants are distributed fairly across Papatoetoe," Nair said.

He also expressed disappointment that fellow team candidate Bhalla did not manage to secure a seat on the local board but called for greater community involvement in elections.

"The Indian community in Papatoetoe is large, and I want them to participate more actively in democratic processes," he said.

Sandeep Saini, also part of the Papatoetoe Ōtara Action Team, echoed a similar sentiment and thanked residents for their support.

"We're very happy with the result, even though it's a little disappointing that we couldn't get the whole team in," he said. "We're grateful to the people because they backed us not once, but twice."

Nair said all three elected members of the Papatoetoe Ōtara Action Team looked forward to working with Vi Hausia and the Labour team from the Ōtara subdivision.

"We're here to serve the community, and it doesn't matter which group we belong to," he said.

The new election was triggered after a District Court ruling in December voided the 2025 Papatoetoe subdivision result due to irregularities in some ballot papers, sending voters back to the polls to reselect their local representatives.

The legal challenge, lodged under the Local Electoral Act by former Ōtara-Papatoetoe Local Board deputy chair Lehopoaome Vi Hausia, alleged statistical anomalies in turnout, misuse of ballot papers, irregularities involving special votes, discrepancies in voter records, unlawful campaign activity and broader weaknesses in the postal voting model.

Papatoetoe was the only Auckland electorate to record a significant rise in turnout in the 2025 local body elections, with participation increasing by more than 7 percent at a time that other areas recorded declines.

None of the previous members were returned in the 2025 election, with all four seats going to first-time candidates from the Papatoetoe Ōtara Action Team, a result the petition argued was inconsistent with historic voting patterns.

A separate legal challenge followed in February, when four winning candidates from the voided election sought a High Court judicial review.

After a hearing on 17 February, the High Court upheld the District Court's decision to void the result.

Voting in the new election opened on March 9, closing at midday today.

As of Wednesday, 7125 voting papers have been returned - just 20.2 percent of eligible voters.

Turnout is now tracking lower than at the same point in last year's voided election, which reached 25.7 percent the day before voting closed.

Turnout had been comparatively closer in the lead-up to the long Easter weekend, with 18 percent of eligible voters casting ballots through 2 April against 18.2 percent at the same point last year.

However, ballot returns nosedived over the four-day Easter break, increasing just 0.85 percent over that period.

"Vote on the Go" events, which were held during last year's ballot, have not been included in the latest election.

Lou-Ann Ballantyne, general manager of governance and engagement at Auckland Council said by-election voter turnout was generally lower than the triennial elections, averaging about 15 percent in the last three larger by-elections.

"The latest vote count (on 8 April) shows 20.21 percent returns, so turnout in this election is set to be higher than recent by-elections," Ballantyne said.

The new election features eight new candidates alongside 12 who contested last year's vote.

Only one candidate chose not to stand again after nominations closed on 28 January.

Dale Ofsoske, managing director at Election Services, said two incidents had been flagged with police during the election period.

"In one 'voting irregularity', we had an instance where a person attempted to vote more than once. As this is illegal, we referred this to police," Ofsoske said.

"We had one other instance where a ticket used incorrect statistics in their promotional flyer which could be viewed as misleading so was also referred to police."

In October, police confirmed they were making enquiries after receiving complaints of alleged electoral fraud in the area.

On Wednesday, police told RNZ the investigation remained ongoing.

Via RNZ