KEY POINTS:
The envelope has been sitting on the sideboard for long enough. The votes will be counted next Saturday. The democratic chore must be done by about Thursday to reach the returning officer by post. Why not now? - when you have finished the paper, of course.
Here is a suggestion to make the job easier: resist the inclination to fill all the seats offered for your vote. Tick only the candidate(s) you really want. The reason for recommending this is that all candidates are running against the rest. If there are just two you value and there are three seats for your area on the local body, an additional vote for a second-rater might be the one that puts that candidate ahead of one of those you really want.
So vote responsibly. Do not pick someone just to balance the age spread or gender balance of your selections. Again, the token choice might be the one that tips out a more capable candidate.
A Herald-DigiPoll survey of Auckland's four municipalities has found a high level of contentment with their councils, which might explain the low postal returns this week compared to the same stage of the previous elections. Contentment, though, ought to be a motivation to vote. Good councils can be weakened by a careless electorate.
Finally, beware of dilettantes. Politics is hard, tedious, unglamorous work for the most part, requiring close attention to financial and technical advice, the ability to listen and consider other views, polite powers of persuasion and the perseverance to see projects through.
Vote well.