Voter turnout and representation of women in the 2025 Local Authority Elections

13 April 2026

Since 1959, the Department of Internal Affairs (the Department) has compiled and released information on local authority elections (local elections). The 2025 local elections statistics cover the election of mayors, city and district councillors, regional councillors, community board members, and local board members. Voter turnout (turnout) and the representation of women as candidates and elected members are analysed. Information on age and ethnicity of candidates is not collected as part of the nomination process, so cannot be released.

Turnout has been relatively stable since 2013. Turnout was 40 percent in 2025, slightly decreasing from 41 percent in 2022. Turnout has declined since 1989, when local government reform contributed to turnout peaking at 56 percent. In 2025, turnout for district and regional councils recorded small increases, while turnout for city councils fell from 39 percent to 35 percent.

Overall, the proportion of women elected to local authorities’ seats (the examined local authority elections, including mayoralties, councils, community boards, and local boards) has trended upward over time, other than a small dip in 2022. In 2025, women made up 41 percent of elected members and 37 percent of candidates. This is the highest percentage of female elected members in the last 16 years.

The 2025 local elections saw an increased proportion of elected women in all seats, except for mayoralties and local boards. The largest changes from 2022 were in regional councils (up six percentage points to 32 percent, equivalent to eight more members) and mayoralties (down five percentage points to 27 percent, three fewer mayors). Community boards currently have the highest representation of elected women, with close to half of positions held by women following the 2025 local elections (46 percent).

The Department is releasing the local elections statistics as open data on its website. Releasing the statistics in this form allows interested parties to download the data for every district, town, and community, and import it into an analytical programme of their choice. This makes the data more accessible to, and usable by, key users of local elections statistics (such as government agencies, councils, and researchers).

The full 2025 local elections statistics are available for download on the Department’s website.