Four of Māori ward advocate Toni Boynton’s election signs had to be removed from Whakatāne roads on Friday morning after a complaint.
A member of the public complained to Whakatāne District Council about the “tick yes for Māori wards” signs on Landing Road and Commerce Street.
The signs were in support of retaining the council’s Māori wards in the referendum being held in conjunction with this year’s local election.
The signs had the words “Whakatāne District Council” written on them, which the complainant felt would mislead people to think the council was advocating for people to vote for Māori wards and that the sign was funded by the council.
In smaller print at the bottom of the sign, it stated that the sign was endorsed by Ms Boynton.
Legal advice to the local government sector in 2024 was that all communication on the Māori wards referendum be neutral and objective.
The man, who did not want to be named as he feared repercussions, said he complained to the council on Thursday afternoon and was phoned on Friday morning to be told that the council had checked with electoral authorities and had asked the candidate to take the signs down.
He said the council should have taken action sooner, rather than wait for someone to complain about it, one day before the close of voting.
The complainant said he had been told by a lawyer he knows that, should the referendum results be close, “there may be a case for the council to answer”.
Ms Boynton said those signs had been recycled from her 2018 Māori wards campaign.
“Back then, we were told that we were required to identify the council that was having the referendum on the sign.
“There were only five other councils in the country that were having a referendum, so we had to identify that it was Whakatāne District Council in case people thought that it was every council.”
The council’s deputy electoral officer Chirese Viljoen confirmed that the council had asked Ms Boynton to either correct or remove the signs as soon as they became aware of the issue.
“We take our obligations under the Local Electoral Act 2001 seriously and work to ensure all election processes are conducted fairly and in accordance with electoral regulations.
“We do not believe there has been negligence. While election signage appears throughout the district during polling periods, staff are not conducting constant monitoring patrols of all signage.
“We respond appropriately when specific concerns are raised.”
Principal electoral officer Dale Ofsoske said he was not aware of the sign provision mentioned by Ms Boynton for the 2018 campaign.
When asked whether the incident could jeapordise results of the referendum, he said the only way an election or poll could be overturned was at the direction of a district court judge.
LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.
