Buckle up Hamilton Kirikiriroa, the race for a seat in Hamilton City Council’s elections is on. With the 46 candidates now confirmed, it’s time to turn your attention to who you’re going to vote for.

“Voting is important, but it’s also exciting” said Chief Executive, Lance Vervoort.

“There will be at least six fresh faces at the Council table following these elections, so make sure you take some time to think about who you want to represent you.”

Figuring out what 46 people stand for can seem like an overwhelming task at first — but there are a few really good tools to help you understand the values and ambitions of would-be elected members.

Yourcityelections.co.nz is a great place to start. There you’ll be able to check which ward you vote in, see the candidates and find out more about them.

Now, onto the good bit – getting to know the candidates. We’ve asked the tough questions, so you don’t have to (unless you want to, and in that case check out the events page for upcoming opportunities to meet candidates).

On each candidate page, you’ll find their top three priorities for Hamilton, their vision for the city in 10 years' time, and what qualities they think will help us thrive. Some have even provided a video, so grab the popcorn.

Once you’ve browsed the candidates, you can rank them and send yourself a handy little list to help you fill out your real voting paper. It’s probably a good time to mention that we are using STV in these elections, so you will rank the candidates, rather than tick them.

But before you dive into the detail of what each candidate thinks, what do you think? Our Pre-Election Report, also on the website, outlines the key challenges and opportunities for our city going forward.

“The report talks through important stuff like how we keep up with our fast-growing city, what Council is doing about climate change, and the partnerships that are critical to success.” said Vervoort.

It’s worth a read as a voter, so you can get a good understanding of what’s going on in the Tron, and how it might affect you.

Another great tool is Policy.nz, brought to you by The Spinoff. They’ve asked candidates questions on a range of topics, from rates and revenue to transport and recreation.

You can browse responses by topic, and you can hide candidate names so you can really focus on what they have to say.

So grab a cuppa, get informed, and drop that vote in the post between 16 September and 8 October.

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