Western Bay of Plenty District Council candidates are being given an advantage over their city counterparts when it comes to election signage.

Candidates in the district council can erect their candidacy signage anytime from August 12 – two months from polling day - but Tauranga City Council runners must wait until September 14.

Tauranga Mayoralty candidate Mike Baker and At-Large candidate Gail McIntosh say the election signage rules for City Council elections are unfair.

Tauranga City Mayoralty candidate Mike Baker is pushing the boundaries against what he calls a 'draconian” measure by TCC, which gives candidates six days of signage exposure before voting papers go out.

Mike, who has been cautioned by TCC's deputy electoral officer Yvonne Tatton for sign-writing his car to promote his candidacy, says the council's rules on election sign timing does not encourage people to vote, or let them know who is standing.

'I received a phone call from the deputy electoral officer, saying council received a complaint that my car was sign-written for election advertising, which apparently, according to the Candidates Book, is not permittable until September 14,” says Mike.

'The council themselves, I gather, has recently changed a bylaw since the last election.”

Since receiving the call Mike has covered up the words ‘Mayor' and ‘Council' on his signwritten vehicle.

'But I wasn't prepared to take off my name or the word ‘vote', because there are so many cars with advertising around town.”

'Her [Yvonne's] response was that it was 'pushing boundaries” but she didn't say it wasn't acceptable.”

Candidates were made aware they could not use advertising billboard-type signs – despite other cities already being plastered with them – but not cars, says Mike.

'My way of thinking is it's a moving sign board and I paid for advertising on my car. So I was under the impression that the same rules that applied in the past apply now. It appears the councillors have changed the rules in the last little while.”

'The concern I have is only 43 per cent of Tauranga City voters voted in the last election,” says Mike.

'If we don't get the message out, that there is an election on, there is every likelihood the number of voters this election will be lower. And 43 people out of 100 is pretty appalling return in itself.

'If you are not allowed to advertise at all until Saturday, September 14, which is four weeks before the closing date of the postal ballot, and voting papers start to be posted out on the September 20, you've only got a six-day timeframe to actually get your name out.”

Mike thinks the timeframe is significantly too short – 'especially when you hearing that places like Auckland, Rotorua and Hamilton have signs up. And I am not having any hoardings. My only advertising is in the local newspapers and my vehicle.”

Tauranga City at-large candidate Gail McIntosh has also sign-written her vehicle, but has not been approached by council to remove it.

'I've put ‘Tauranga City Council' and ‘Vote for Gail McIntosh' on my car, which is the obvious thing to do.”

'We were given a Candidates Booklet which stipulated rules and regulations. It clearly said not to put hoardings up [to September 14] and you could consider my car to be a moving hoarding.

'I just assumed it [September 14] was a mis-print. I know voting papers come out on September 20, and it does not seem logical that I can only put a hoarding up – whether it's on my car or a big static hoarding – for six days before the first people start voting,” says Gail.

Tauranga City Council deputy electoral officer Yvonne Tatton says the rule on timing of election signs being put in the district has been in place since 2011.

'The council adopted it in 2011. It's a council policy and there is reference to the Street Use of Public Places Bylaw. That means it is also a requirement under the Street Use of Public Places Bylaw,” says Yvonne.

'Council put it in place after the previous elections, which is due to complaints received from members of the public regarding election signs.”

But Gail is annoyed election hoardings are up in Rotorua, Auckland and her neighbouring Western Bay district.

'I seems unfair those in the Western bay can advertise already but I can't.

'And you've got to ask yourself why less people are standing for the election this time, and why less women are standing – they already think the process is undemocratic and it's a big cost to get these big signs up.”

Gail and Mike also planned to put up an election sign on an ASB Baypark TECT Arena billboard, but were told because it is a council-controlled organisation, it was against the rules.

'Now, with only six days before voting papers go out, I'm not even going to put a hoarding up. If they stick to the 14^th of September – it cannot be worth it.”

Meanwhile, Western Bay Mayoralty incumbent Ross Paterson has begun putting his election signs up in his region and says his council has taken a fairly simple approach to rules on signage after receiving few complaints.

'We've kept a simple policy on elections signs, and have kept it that way so candidates can understand it … and we've had very few issues with signage in the district,” says Ross.

'Once the nominations have closed, people have been welcome to put up their elections signs, I have a few up myself, and I've been finding in the early days that people don't focus on there being an election coming up,” says Ross.

'So they might help people in getting into the election mode or arena and get them realising ‘hey there is an election coming',” says Ross.

The Western Bay's signage rules are made in the council's District Plan, which has been publicly consulted on, says Ross.

WBOPDC secretary Fleur Sweeney says the council's election page has a Candidate Handbook, which specifies the rules for election signs – and does not include a time restriction.

'We don't have those kinds of [timing] rules,” says Fleur.

'The rules in the candidate book arise out of our District Plan. We don't have anything separate or specific in terms of timing rules in relation to election signs. The District Plan rules cover signs in general.”