Local elections – final chance to vote Monday 8 October 2007

Voting for the local and District Health Board (DHB) elections closes at midday on Saturday (13 October) and all voting papers must have been received by electoral officers by that time for the vote to count.

Local Government New Zealand’s Manager Governance, Mike Reid, says now is the time to fill out and post your voting papers.

“I would encourage anyone who has not yet voted to do so. It will be another three years before you have a chance to either endorse or vote for a change in your local council.

“Councils are part of your everyday life – every time you turn on a tap, flush a toilet, drive on the road, visit the library, swim at the local pool or play on sports grounds you are using council services. Your vote is your chance to influence how these things are done.”

The voting papers use both the Single Transferable Voting (STV) and the First Past the Post (FPP) voting systems. All District Health Board and eight council elections will use the STV voting system to elect their members. For these elections voters are required to rank the candidates they want to vote for in order of preference (i.e. 1, 2, 3, 4, etc).

All the other councils will be using the FPP system. For the FPP system voters are required to put a tick alongside the candidate/s they wish to vote for.

“Although electoral rolls have now closed, people can still enrol to vote. However, they will need to request special voting papers from their Electoral Officer. The last date to enrol is this Friday (12 October). I would encourage anyone who has not yet registered to do so and cast a special vote.”

Enrolment forms and information are available from council offices.

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