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Story: Elections and campaigns

Choosing local leaders, 1913

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Choosing local leaders, 1913

Men and women gather outside a polling booth during a 1913 municipal (town council) election in Wellington. By then the local body electoral system was settled, but elements of the process continued to cause concern. In 1913 Wellingtonians worried about the state of the electoral roll and questioned whether the mayor should be directly elected or chosen by councillors from amongst their number.

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Alexander Turnbull Library

Reference: 1/2-135944-F

Permission of the Alexander Turnbull Library, National Library of New Zealand, Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa, must be obtained before any re-use of this image.

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How to cite this page

Bryce Edwards, Elections and campaigns – Elections, Te Ara – the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, https://teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/35139/choosing-local-leaders-1913 (accessed 4 June 2026).

Story by Bryce Edwards, published 23 May 2012, updated 1 July 2016.