Voting has begun for local government elections and early returns show Cromwell residents and ratepayers are leading the way in voter turnout.

Across the Central Otago District, 1,215 voting papers have been returned so far (as recorded at 12pm on Tuesday, September 23), representing 6.78 percent of eligible voters. 

At a ward level, Cromwell has the highest early return, with 622 papers already received, or 8.89 percent of voters.

The Vincent Ward has returned 456 papers (5.53 percent), while the Teviot Valley Ward is sitting at 102 papers (7.94 percent). For now, Maniototo lags behind with just 35 papers received - that’s just 2.52 percent of voters having had their say.

Voting papers can be returned by post, but the council has made it easy for voters to avoid the snail-mail option by placing ballot boxes at selected supermarkets, as well as at libraries and council service centres.

Voting papers have been delivered to letterboxes across Central Otago, with residents and ratepayers given until October 11 to have their say on who represents them on district and regional governing bodies. Image: The Central App

The elections also cover the Otago Regional Council (ORC), where an additional seat has been created around the table for the Dunstan Constituency, which much of Central Otago and Queenstown Lakes districts sits within. 

This time voting for the regional council is under the single transferable vote (STV) system, which allows voters to rank candidates in order of preference.

A ‘how-to’ guide published by the regional council on its website uses the example of voters selecting their favourite ice-cream flavours to explain the process.

“Cookies and cream is the best - how do I give it my vote…Rank cookies and cream ‘1’ in your ballot - if you want a second option, rank that one ‘2’...If you really, really don't want strawberry (because eeewww), then make sure their box is as empty as their flavour,” the website said.

This week marks the final full council meetings before new councils are sworn in for both district and regional governing bodies. 

Central Otago District Council is set to meet in Alexandra today (Wednesday September 24), and on the agenda are funding decisions for community grants as well as farewells for councillors not seeking re-election.

Among them are deputy mayor and Cromwell councillor Neil Gillespie, who has served the district for decades, Cromwell councillor Nigel McKinley, and Teviot Valley councillor Sally Feinerman - each of whom will have the opportunity to give a valedictory speech.

Meanwhile, ORC has a two-day meeting scheduled to begin this afternoon (Wednesday, September 24), with the council’s annual report leading the agenda.

Nationally, turnout at local body elections has been on the decline. At the last elections in 2022, only approximately 41.5 percent of eligible New Zealanders voted.

Voting for this year’s elections closes at noon on Saturday October 11, with progress results expected later that day. Find more information about the candidates here.

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