Gisborne council to offer more ballot drop-off points amid proposed voting reform

Voters elect a new Gisborne district council in October, but Mayor Rehette Stolz says postal voting is not fit-for-purpose. A Local Government NZ Electoral Reform Group is proposing changes including moving back to booth voting.

Gisborne local body voters can expect more drop-off points for their ballot papers in October’s election, which could be the last hurrah for postal voting.

Mayor Rehette Stoltz, one of the five members of Local Government NZ’s Electoral Reform Working Group that is pushing to replace postal voting, also supports the group’s recommendations to return to voting booths, extend the local body term from three to four years and continue the Electoral Commission’s nationwide voter participation campaign.

Stoltz, the regional sector representative for the group, said postal voting was not fit for purpose for nationwide voting.

“We at Gisborne District Council are very aware of the decreased use of the postal system,” Stoltz said

“Some homes don’t even have mailboxes anymore.”

The group has asked for public feedback on changes it recommended to the voting system.

Voting would take place over two weeks.

Any changes would not be made before the 2028 elections, but group chairman Nelson Mayor Nick Smith recommended that councils make short-term improvements for this year’s election by offering alternative drop-off points to post boxes – such as “orange bins” at supermarkets and drive-through drop-off points.

Stoltz said the council would look at having more locations for residents to drop off their completed voting forms.

“This is something we have done in the past to make it easier for voters to participate,” she said.

“We will make sure these are distributed across the whole region – not just in the city.

Local Government NZ wants to increase voter turnout.

Smith said that while online voting had often been suggested as a viable alternative, attempts over the past three decades to trial it for local elections have been unsuccessful – largely due to security or cost issues.

Security risks have increased because of the growth in hacking, online fraud, and state-sanctioned cyberattacks by authoritarian regimes.

Gisborne Mayor supports four-year terms for local government

Stoltz said the Electoral Reform Working Group proposed that the Government incorporate local government into its proposal for four-year terms.

“It makes perfect sense to align the two and we will continue those discussions with the Government.”

National and local elections would be evenly spaced and held biennially.

Any change to the parliamentary term would require a referendum under the conditions of the Bill, which National has not yet offered to support past the first reading.

Local Government Minister Simon Watts said earlier that while council terms are not part of the Bill, he had feedback from councils that they would be interested in aligning with a four-year term if it happened for central government.

Declining voter participation ‘existential threat’

The group also proposed that the Electoral Commission manage local body elections and continue its nationwide voter participation campaign.

Stoltz said there was significantly more money spent to promote central government elections “with not nearly as much spent to promote and administer local body elections”.

Smith said earlier that participation in local elections had declined significantly over the past three decades.

“A participation rate of less than half of eligible voters is an existential threat to local government.”

Local body voter turnout across the country was lower compared to central government elections.

Voter turnout in New Zealand councils was close to the middle when compared to similar countries, but it was well below countries such as Norway, Denmark, and Iceland, where local governments traditionally had a greater role with more autonomy.

In 2022, the local body voter turnouts in Gisborne and Wairoa were higher than the national average of 40.44%, with 43.4% and 51.5% respectively.

The national turnout was 57% in 1989, the first election held under the current local body amalgamations.

According to the latest Electoral Commission figures (February 25, 2025), 87.23% of eligible Gisborne District Council voters were registered to vote compared to the national figure of 88.97%.

In Gisborne, that is 39,927 voters with 23,143 in the general ward and 11,597 in the Māori ward.

Only 58.12% of voters in the 18 to 24 age group are registered.

Auckland Council’s 2022 demographic study on turnout noted several possible reasons why people didn’t vote:

• Perceived lack of relevance of local government in everyday life.

• Family and work commitments and an inability to pay attention to local politics in light of other life priorities.

• Differences in the level of exposure to civics education.

• Complexity of the local government system and voting process, with differences in knowledge about local government across communities.

• A lack of identification with and ability to see one’s identity reflected in the local governance system for some communities.

• A distrust of and disengagement from the local government system, particularly among Māori.

• The existence of a social norm of non-voting in some families, neighbourhoods and communities.

Other proposals and consultation

Other proposals made by the Electoral Reform Working Group were: to improve civics education; support Local Democracy Reporting; establish an annual Local Government Week; avoid local elections during school holidays; improve information about candidates; make it easier for overseas voting; support candidates with disabilities; and address anomalies in expenditure caps for Māori ward candidates.

“A consistent approach to nationwide civics education that engages our communities and enlightens them to council processes and the importance of voting would be welcome alongside universal and well-resourced promotion and administration of local body elections,” Stoltz said.

“It would be a good starting point to encourage more participation in local elections.”

Stoltz said submitters had noted that information about candidates was sometimes difficult to find or was limited or missing.

“We encourage anyone standing in the elections to let their community know what they stand for.

“It is up to the candidates to provide full information about themselves so people can make informed decisions on who to vote for.”

The group has asked for public feedback on the draft position paper, either via the Local Government NZ website or by emailing electoralreform@lgnz.co.nz.

Consultation closes on April 28 with a position paper to be made public in July of this year.