Dalek Snowdon left off official ballot

“Is this what New Zealand has come to?” said Mayoral Candidate Dalek Snowdon today as news broke that his bid for Auckland’s top job has been set back by his exclusion from the official ballot.

“There is only one word to describe this and that word is RACISM!” squawked the mutant alien life form in a statement from his Waiheke Island headquarters today.

With nominations closing at noon today there has been a rush of last minute nominees with incumbent Mayor Dick Hubbard facing fourteen challengers in next month’s elections.

“Make that FIFTEEN!” says Dalek Snowdon.

"My nomination went in last week and has been blatantly ignored by the entrenched elite at the Town Hall. There was some pathetic excuse about my signature being incorrect. Is the Dalek community to be robbed of the chance to vote for one of their own? Or will they once again be left having to accept the limp wristed Liberal John Banks as their next best option?” 

Auckland City Returning Officer Gordon Flaccid confirmed that Dalek Snowdon had indeed listed as a candidate in plenty of time for inclusion on the ballot, but that there had been problems over the signature on the forms.

“It appears that Daleks do not sign papers with a pen as we might do,” he said, “The Dalek ‘Plunger’ is unsuited to holding any type of writing implement, so Daleks tend to use their ray guns to produce a burn in the paper. Apparently these can be highly distinctive to each Dalek. However, we took the signature on Mr. Snowdon’s form to be some sort of cigarette burn and rejected it.”

So would this mean the end for Dalek Snowdon’s Mayoral hopes?

“Normally, yes.” Says Mr Flaccid, “As Council employees, we are not given to flexibility over issues like this. There tends to be too much thinking and effort involved, which naturally we prefer to avoid. However, following a meeting with Dalek Snowdon and some of his campaign staff we have decided….Well, I should say I decided, as the rest of my department have been exterminated, that in this case we might make an exception and let Dalek Snowdon’s application stand.”