Te Roroa Development group general manager Snow Tane Photo: RNZ/Peter de Graaf
One of the candidates in Kaipara's tight mayoral race is applying for a recount.
Iwi leader Snow Tane, who lost to previous Deputy Mayor Jonathan Larsen by just 21 votes, said he had applied for a judicial recount in the Whangārei District Court late on Monday.
He said it was now up to the court to decide whether the recount should go ahead.
Under the Electoral Act, candidates have three working days after the declaration of the final result to request a recount.
"We're utilising the democratic process that's available to us under the act. And we think at 21 votes the closeness of it means a recount is a process that should be undertaken at this point."
Whatever the outcome, Tane said he would still be a councillor, having won a seat 999 votes ahead of the next highest-polling candidate in the Wairoa Ward.
"I'll still be there to support the council round the table. I think that's important. We need to have a really good working team," he said.
Asked how he rated his chances of the recount going in his favour, Tane said only that it was "something that we need to do".
The potential recount has delayed the pōwhiri for the new council, which had been due to take place on Thursday.
It could also delay the swearing-in ceremony, which had been due to take place on 30 October at the Matakohe Memorial Hall.
That could now be postponed to 3 or 10 November, the Kaipara District Council said.
Snow Tane. Photo: Peter de Graaf/RNZ
In the final results released on Friday evening, Larsen won the mayoralty with 3138 votes to Tane's 3117.
Two-times former mayor Jason Smith was close behind with 3081 while commercial banker Ash Nayyar had 1278.
Outgoing mayor Craig Jepson. Photo: Northern Advocate / Tania Whyte
Last week outgoing mayor Craig Jepson called an emergency meeting to seek councillors' support to lodge a complaint with the Department of Internal Affairs about what he said were irregularities in the election process.
The meeting was adjourned after just 25 minutes on Thursday after an elderly protester approached the council table.
Councillors reconvened on Friday, Jepson's last day in office as mayor.
The DIA told RNZ it received the complaint later that day but it fell outside the department's jurisdiction.
Election complaints should be sent to the electoral officer, who would then refer them to police.
Once the final result had been released, any candidate or group of 10 voters had 21 days to request a judicial inquiry into election conduct, the department said.
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