Final Call for Votes – 26.6 Percent of Votes Returned

It’s not too late to have your say in the city’s local body elections but if you miss the post tomorrow, you’ll need to hand-deliver your voting papers to make sure they are included in the count.


Wellington City Council Electoral Officer Ross Bly says papers put in the post today and tomorrow will arrive on time, but there is no guarantee that papers posted on Friday will reach him by the midday Saturday 13 October voting deadline. Votes arriving after midday Saturday can't be counted.

If you miss the post, you can drop off your voting papers at the Wellington City Council offices in Wakefield Street between 8.00am and 5.00pm Thursday and Friday, and between 9.00am and midday on Saturday. Votes can also be delivered to ballot boxes at the city's public libraries by midday Saturday.

Many voters appear to be leaving their decision until the last moment, and electoral staff are expecting to work hard to process the remaining voting papers.

With just 26.6 percent of votes returned to the Council by today, Mr Bly is urging people to fill in their papers and send them in. "At the same stage of the 2004 elections we had 29.2 percent of votes already returned."

In 2004, 42 percent of those on the electoral roll cast a vote, and he is hoping Wellington voters can beat that this time around. "I'm really hoping there will be a surge in votes in the next two days."

The voting papers use both the Single Transferable Voting (STV) and the First Past the Post (FPP) voting systems. The City Council, Community Board and Capital and Coast District Health Board elections are using STV to elect their members. Voters are required to rank the candidates they want in order of preference (ie 1,2,3 etc). Greater Wellington Regional Council is using the FPP system. Under FPP, voters are required to put a tick alongside the candidate/s they want to vote for.

Electors are urged to read the voting instructions carefully before casting their votes. If you are not registered to vote, you can still enrol up until Friday and cast a special vote until midday Saturday.

Mr Bly says that with STV voting the results of the elections will not be known until late on Saturday evening. "We are hoping to be able to announce the results about 8pm on Saturday but this will depend on the amount of mail we receive in the next couple of days. If a lot of mail comes in on Saturday morning, the announcement is more likely to be made at 11pm."

The results will be announced at the Council offices in Wakefield Street and will be available on the Council's website www.Wellington.govt.nz.  

Related Links
2007 Elections