Photo: RNZ / Liu Chen
The former deputy chair of the Ōtara-Papatoetoe Local Board called for a new election to be held at a judicial inquiry in Auckland on Friday.
Lehopoaome Vi Hausia, who served on the board last term but was not re-elected, lodged a petition of inquiry under section 93 of the Local Electoral Act 2001.
The petition alleged statistical anomalies in turnout, misuse of ballot papers, irregularities involving special votes, discrepancies in voter records, unlawful campaign activity and systemic weaknesses in the postal model.
Dale Ofsoske, independent electoral officer for Auckland, was the respondent to the petition.
At a preliminary hearing at Manukau District Court on Friday afternoon, Judge Richard McIlraith ordered five ballot boxes containing votes from the electorate to be transferred from Auckland District Court, where they were being kept, to Manukau for scrutineering next Tuesday.
Judge McIlraith, legal counsel for Hausia and Ofsoske, as well as Ofsoske himself, would be involved in the process, he said.
The ballots from the electorate would be examined by the group, which would try to identify any voting patterns, particularly with regards to special votes, Judge McIlraith said.
Hausia's lawyer, Simon Mitchell, said his client wanted a "new election" as a remedy if grounds for the petition were found to be true.
About 20 people attended the hearing today, including a number of unsuccessful local board candidates in the electorate.
No one from the Papatoetoe-Ōtara Action Team, which won all four seats on the board's Papatoetoe subdivision, was present.
A hearing was scheduled at the Manukau District Court on 8 December, and additional evidence would need to be filed before then, Judge McIlraith said.
The Ōtara-Papatoetoe Local Board has two subdivisions, with the Ōtara having three seats and Papatoetoe four.
While most Auckland areas saw turnout fall in the local body election, including Ōtara subdivision dropping 1 percent, turnout in Papatoetoe increased by more than 7 percent.
All four seats in the Papatoetoe subdivision went to first-time candidates from the Papatoetoe-Ōtara Action Team.
None of the previous local board members of the subdivision were re-elected.
Separately, police confirmed Thursday they were investigating 16 complaints of electoral fraud that had been forwarded to them from Election Services.
"This investigation remains in the early stages, however they relate to allegations of electoral fraud," detective inspector Shaun Vickers at Counties Manukau Criminal Investigation Branch said.
Last month, RNZ received a complaint alleging "electoral malpractice" in relation to the Ōtara-Papatoetoe Local Board.
In addition to voting paper theft, it claimed voters were being told how to vote inside polling booths and in public places at a Sikh temple in Papatoetoe.
Speaking to Local Democracy Reporting earlier, Papatoetoe-Ōtara Action Team spokesperson Kunal Bhalla rejected the allegations, describing them as "baseless and politically motivated".
