Local businesses brew up support for voting in local election

Getting your morning coffee or doing the weekly grocery run? This month, you’ll get more than just your usual pick-me-up—you’ll also get a friendly nudge to vote in the NPDC’s local elections.

NPDC has teamed up with local cafes Billow, Proof & Stock, Dawn, and Jetcharm - as well as New World New Plymouth, to help spread the word about voting before the midday deadline on Saturday, 11 October.

When you grab a coffee at any participating café, you’ll spot a sticker on your takeaway cup featuring the NPDC and Vote 2025 logos. Or, if you order your groceries online from New World New Plymouth, you might find a flyer in your shopping bag reminding you to vote and showing where to find ballot boxes.

“We’re aiming to spark conversations about voting—especially among younger people—by weaving it into everyday moments, like grabbing a coffee,” says NPDC Customer and Communication Manager Ben Kohlis.

“Getting a cuppa or doing the shopping is something most of us do regularly, so it’s a simple, effective way to keep the message front of mind. We’re really grateful to the local businesses who’ve jumped on board to support this initiative.”

This year’s election is a big one. Not only are voters choosing our next Mayor, Councillors, and Community Board members, but will also decide whether to keep or remove our Māori ward in a legally-binding referendum.

Our four-month election campaign started in July and is run over three phases to get people to ‘stand,’ providing information to residents to get to ‘know’ their candidates and to ‘Vote now’.

Since the campaign started our Vote 2025 website has had almost 240,000 page views and the  Know your Candidate section 210,000.

Most voters should have received their voting papers by now. If you haven’t, check you’re enrolled and your details are up to date at vote.nz or call 0800 36 76 56. The last day to enrol is Friday, 10 October.

If you missed the 1 August enrolment deadline, didn’t get your voting pack, or have damaged your papers, you can still cast a special vote. You will need to do this in person at the Civic Centre in Liardet Street so just pop at talk with us or call the electoral office on 0800 922 822.

For more info on special votes and everything else voting-related, visit see the vote section on our website.

This is a postal vote, so get your completed papers in the post as soon as possible to make sure they arrive in time or better still drop them in a ballot box at all NPDC service centres and community libraries, the Civic Centre, Puke Ariki, and Todd Energy Aquatic Centre.

Progress results will be announced on Saturday 11 October 2025, preliminary results expected on Sunday 12 October and final results are expected to be announced Friday 17 October.

For all you need to know, including daily voter return progress, go to npdc.govt.nz/vote2025 for more information.

By the numbers:​

• 82 nominations received for the 2025 election, up from 77 in 2022​.
• 9 candidates are running for Mayor in 2025, up from 8 in 2022.​
• 45.1%: The voter turnout in 2022.

Caption: Brewing up support to get people to voting in local elections.