Result unchanged, despite more votes

Warwick Lampp

The outcome of the Hawke's Bay local government reorganisation poll has gone almost unchanged, despite the counting of more than 1000 more votes yesterday.

Election managers Electionz.com late yesterday released a "preliminary" result which showed 1153 more votes had been counted, with 66.18 per cent having voted against amalgamation - the same percentage as in the "progress" result after counting of about 97 per cent of votes in the few hours after the poll closed at midday on Tuesday.

With 68,644 voting papers now counted, likely to be the final total in the official poll declaration tomorrow, the proportion who voted "For" amalgamation was 33.54 per cent, which compared with 33.55 per cent in Tuesday's progress result.

The voter return, including 187 informal votes or blank papers, was 61.75 per cent.

Central Hawke's Bay and Wairoa had marginal increases in their opposition to the proposal, Hastings a marginal increase in its slender majority in support, and Napier a minor decrease in its clearcut vote "Against".

Meanwhile, almost 1.6 per cent of the 110,905 papers distributed at the beginning of the poll were returned without reaching the people to whom they were addressed, possibly up to twice the number expected.

Electionz.com figures 1751 papers returned as "GNA" - Gone, No Address.

During the three-week voting period, chief returning officer Warwick Lampp did not have comparable figures from past elections, but said GNA returns were likely to have usually been less than 1 per cent.

At least one councillor believes many of those who did not receive their papers will be those displaced and relocated in the emptying of more than 100 state housing units in Napier and Hastings will have been a factor.

"Many of these people have been lost in the bureaucratic process," Napier city councillor Michelle Pyke said last night.

"They may not have been homeless as such - but let's call it couch-surfing or house-hopping, or whatever you like."

She wondered if the higher-than-expected GNAs included significant numbers sent to properties without any homes, following the demolition of the units on the sites.