Electoral Officers Pre-Election Training

Richard joined Taituarā in December 2016. He loves his role assembling and sharing good and relevant practice so that people in local government have easier, more effective working lives, He is focussed on the Taituarā legal compliance modules, electoral readiness resources, and supporting G-REG the Government Regulatory Practice Initiative, He also has a hand in delivering some Taituarā events and policy projects.

Richard is studying part-time towards a Masters in Public Policy. With wife Christine, he has one teenage and two adult children, and believes passionately that Liverpool FC will again be Champions of England in his lifetime.

MDC Manager Economic, Community and Support Services, Dean has been the Electoral Officer for Marlborough since 1998. MDC was an early adopter of STV voting, becoming one of the seven local authorities which experienced the vote processing problems at the 2004 election.

MDC contracts out the processing of voting papers but, as Electoral Officer, Dean deals with all the issues that can attract public interest during the electoral cycle from the calling of nominations, local campaign complaints and the scrutiny of electoral expenses. Dean suggests patience and a sense of humour are requisites for successful handling of the role of EO.

Dale Ofsoske is Managing Director of Election Services, providing electoral services, including assistance with democratic reviews, to a large number of local authorities.

He is an experienced electoral officer (since 1985), foundation member and deputy chair to the former Taituarā Electoral Working Party, current member of the Taituarā Electoral Sub-Committee and honorary Taituarā member. Dale is electoral officer for a number of councils, including Auckland Council, and brings his expertise and widespread knowledge on electoral matters to this forum.

Mark has been working in local government since 1997, firstly at Manawatu District Council and currently at Timaru District Council. His involvement with elections started in 2004, and since then he has been EO for three elections at TDC. Mark is also EO for the local health board and licensing trust. Mark joined the Electoral Working Party in 2013. When he’s not doing elections, Mark’s normal job is Corporate Planning Manager, which includes a range of tasks, including LTP/Annual Plans, reporting, records management, consultation and communications, policy work…and whatever else needs doing!

Rick has worked with Council for a total of 17 years. Since 2011 his role as Governance Lead sees him focussed primarily on providing support to Council, Lakes Community Board, Rural Community Board and Te Tatau o Te Arawa members. Together with a small team of Governance Advisors they are dedicated to leading the organisation’s commitment to work in partnership with the communities of the district.

Warwick has been Chief Returning Officer from the inception of electionz.com in 2000. Since then electionz.com has carried out more than 1,500 elections in NZ and Australia for all manner of clients in both the public and private sectors.

Warwick is currently Electoral Officer for 19 councils and 4 DHBs as well as numerous private organisations including most of the NZ agricultural sector, ie Fonterra, Beef & Lamb, HortNZ, Silver Fern Farms, Alliance, Ravensdown, Ballance, Farmlands, DairyNZ. Warwick has been a member of EWP for about 20 years.

Anusha is an experienced professional in changing political environments with 20 years of experience in government. She is skilled in partnering with elected members to maximise their contribution to the growth of Wellington city. Anusha is passionate about democracy and connecting elected members with their communities.

Anusha Guler began her career in government at KwaZulu Natal Provincial Parliament in South Africa. She was the Deputy Director of the National Council of Provinces.

Anusha’s first job in local government in New Zealand was with Christchurch City Council in 2004 as Democracy Services Manager. In 2007 Anusha joined Auckland City Council as Team Manager Finance and Governance, where she played a key role in embedding a new structure for Democracy Services. She secured a role as Governance Support Manager when Auckland became a supercity in 2010. She is currently with Wellington City Council as Head of Governance.

Marguerite ensures that Auckland’s local democracy is robust, transparent and vibrant, and she believes the active participation and engagement of the many communities that make up this super-diverse city is an integral part of it. Her responsibilities include among others, supporting the Governing Body in its decision-making, organising the local body elections and recruiting and organising the six demographic advisory panels which help Council engage with and meet the needs of Auckland’s diverse communities.

Before joining Auckland Council Marguerite held several senior leadership roles at the Ministry of Justice and the State Services Commission. Prior to that she worked for several corporates in strategy, business development and performance improvement roles, including spending seven years with Ernst and Young in three countries.

Marguerite developed a passion for democracy in Cambodia in the 1990s when she joined the UN to organise the first free and fair elections after 25 years of war. She was also an international observer for the first multi-racial elections in South Africa in 1993. Born in France, Marguerite arrived in New Zealand in 1995 and has been a New Zealand citizen since 2000.

Marguerite has a Masters in Public Management from France and an Executive Masters in Public Administration from Victoria University (through the Australia-New Zealand School of Government). She is a keen sailor and enjoys spending as much time as possible on the beautiful Hauraki Gulf, and regularly practices yoga and meditation.

Peter has worked in the local elections space since 2001. He currently leads the team at Datam responsible for ensuring the Votext website performs well during the critical document formatting and proofing stage of the election process. Peter's team also links into voter pack production, a complex process involving the printing of over 3,000,000 packs and over 1,000 different voting document combinations.

Away from elections, Peter is involved in Datam's digital communications platform, ensuring organisations can utilize multiple channels to effectively engage with their customers. This capability has played a pivotal role in supporting essential communications for Datam's government and corporate customers during the challenging times of Covid.

Working in the Governance field over the past 12 years at both Waimakariri and Christchurch City, Sarah’s Governance Manager role involves being a key contact for the Mayor and Councillors, the Deputy Electoral Officer (with contracted services to electionz.com), the Council Privacy Officer and is responsible for corporate insurance and LGOIMA.Sarah was the project lead of the Council’s Representation Review in 2015-16 and elected member induction for the 2016-19 term.

Leading the governance and administration teams, a key focus is ensuring the Council and its four Community Boards are well equipped to contribute to their communities through sound decision making and involvement.

Matt joined NZ Post in 2018 where his biggest challenge is navigating NZ Post through a period of accelerating mail decline, while maintaining a financially sustainable mail network that services all New Zealand.

Matt has a background marketing and product management, gained predominantly in the financial services industry; an industry where communication via mail has remained a significant part of the marketing communication mix, despite the growth in digital alternatives.

Clare has been working in local government since 2001 and had experience in four councils working in democracy services/governance for all of that time. Prior to that I worked in the select committee office at Parliament for a number of years.

Since 2008 Clare has been involved in elections being either an electoral officer or deputy since then. She is an election nerd and will be following our results in September and in November for the States. Outside of work she explores her new home town of Dunedin, is an avid reader and loves getting out to hear live music.

Mali has a 10 plus year career local government, governance. In her current role she leads two teams, Democracy Services and Tai-ranga-whenua with a focus on all processes related to democracy, supporting council’s co-management arrangements with local iwi and leading policy and strategy work aimed at growing capacity to engage with Māori. Co-governance at Waikato Regional Council has been in effect for almost 10 years now. The introduction of Waikato River treaty settlement legislation was the catalyst for forging long term partnerships with iwi in the Waikato. And with more treaty settlements on the horizon the drivers for change will continue to emerge from this space.

David is an experienced strategic planner, he has worked in central government (NZ Defence Force, NZTA) and local government (Greater Wellington Regional Council, former North Shore City Council) for 25 years.

He has developed a deep understanding of the processes and mechanisms for getting action and results. David is a natural connector, and the relationships he has forged across business, social and community interests are a powerful complement to his government sector know-how. He is a certified RMA Commissioner and is the Climate Change, Technology, Innovation and Enterprise Portfolio Leader at Wellington City Council. Born and raised in Christchurch, David lived in Auckland before making Wellington his home. He enjoys mountain biking, sailing, golf and DIY.

Declan joined the Resilience team in 2015 and brings practical experience from professional practice as well as hands on practical business experience as a business owner and entrepreneur. He is passionate about helping organisations inspire a renewed sense of purpose and passion in the workplace. He is the founder of a non profit organisation called the Spirited Business Network and co owner of a boutique restaurant and chocolate business!

Declan is a Fellow of The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Ireland and has worked internationally as a corporate advisor with KPMG prior to moving to New Zealand in 2005. He has held various lecturing positions at universities in Australia and New Zealand and is now a recognised keynote speaker, workshop facilitator and Coach.

Mandy Bohté is the National Manager of Enrolment and Community Engagement at the Electoral Commission with responsibility for the upkeep of New Zealand’s electoral rolls and championing of participation through community engagement.

Mandy started with Enrolment Services in April 2015 when it was part of New Zealand Post and helped manage the transition of services to the Electoral Commission. Since then, she has led enrolment and face-to-face community engagement campaigns for the 2017 General Election and 2018 Māori Electoral Option.

Mandy has previously held management roles with New Zealand Post Health Services, Converga, and Westaff (NZ) Ltd.