KEY POINTS:
Early returns in the local body elections point to a low turnout across Auckland with the exception of North Shore where the vote is marginally ahead of 2004.
With more than a week of postal voting completed, at least 25 per cent fewer people had voted in Auckland City, Manukau, Papakura and Rodney up until yesterday. Fewer than half the votes from 2004 had been cast in Waitakere up until Friday.
Manukau electoral officer John Skelton said he hoped the numbers were down because people were taking the time to carefully select which candidates they wanted to support.
"But the clock is ticking. Take the opportunity to make your choice and post your votes back by Wednesday 10 October," he said.
Auckland councils are running radio advertisements in addition to billboards, buses and posters encouraging people to vote.
Voters have until noon on October 13 to get their votes in the hands of electoral officers.
Dale Ofsoske, an electoral officer for five territorial councils in Auckland, said several hundred voting papers had been posted overseas.
These included people with overseas addresses and people who had requested papers to be posted to an overseas address.
Mr Ofsoske said the onus was on overseas voters to return their ballots by noon on October 13. Even if they were post-marked before that date, they could not be counted after the cut-off time.