The West Coast DHB elections are required every three years at the same time as Territorial Local
Authority (TLA) elections and will be held on 12 October 2019 (see Appendix 1 for the election
timetable). Each DHB is to have seven elected members, with the Minister of Health being able to
appoint up to four additional members to each Board.
As in 2016, the formal issues requiring Board approval are:
– the appointment of the Electoral Officer; and
– the determination of the order of candidate’s names on voting papers.
By legislation, the District Health Board’s EO continues in the role of EO unless he or she dies,
resigns, is dismissed or becomes otherwise incapable of performing the role. The West Coast
DHB’s EO in the 2016 triennial election was Anthony Morton of Electionz.com, whose contract
has now expired. An appointment is therefore required for the 2019 year.
DHBs are able to decide what order candidates’ names will appear on the DHB voting documents.
Candidates’ names are able to be listed in three ways: alphabetical order by surname, pseudorandom
order, or random order.
The merits of each are discussed further in the paper, with a recommendation of “random” order,
in alignment with the practice of most TLAs in the previous elections, and consistent with
previous West Coast DHB elections.