About the OpenMDC Civic Accountability Platform

About the OpenMDC Civic Accountability Platform: this independent community tool tracks recorded votes across the Marlborough District Council. Sourced from official council minutes, the index offers a direct record of how elected representatives vote on regional policies.

Elected members make significant regional choices on water assets, local roads, planning controls, and rates spending. Finding specific voting positions across separate council document packets can take hours. OpenMDC collates these recorded votes into an accessible index for residents.

Origins and Council Standing Orders

Under Marlborough District Council standing orders, standard voting occurs on the voices or by a show of hands. Individual votes appear in official minutes when a formal recorded vote is requested by an elected member or the presiding chairperson. If no recorded vote is called, council records list the motion as carried or lost without attributing individual votes.

At the April 2026 council meeting, Councillor Deborah Dalliessi proposed publishing regular voting summaries online, pointing to the Christchurch City Council model. Other members expressed hesitation, stating that detailed voting logs might create division. Because an official council voting tracker was not adopted, OpenMDC was established to deliver this civic reference independently.

Data Collection and Voluntary Submissions

OpenMDC relies on official meeting minutes published by the Marlborough District Council. We transcribe voting records into structured formats with direct links to primary PDF records.

Elected councillors and the Mayor are invited to voluntarily submit their confirmed voting records for items determined by voice vote. Submissions undergo verification against meeting audio or written staff confirmations prior to publication.

Governance and Independence

OpenMDC operates as an independent, non-commercial public interest tool. The platform is owned and funded by Goodwin and Associates Limited, with web development provided by DigiCraft Labs. OpenMDC holds no institutional affiliation with the Marlborough District Council and receives no public funding.