Otara voters keenest to have a say

Otara Markets. Photo / Natalie Slade

Otara leads the way in voter turnout for the Super City, with churches and union leaders mobilising like never before to ensure South Aucklanders have a strong voice in the new council.

More than 30 per cent of registered voters have returned their ballots for the Otara subdivision of the Otara-Papatoetoe Local Board - the highest amount in urban Auckland. Turnout has also been strong in Mangere-Otahuhu.

Political commentators suggested the influence of local Mayor Len Brown had spurred a greater interest in the local election in the ward.

Candidates for the councillor positions also said that Manukau feared being the "poor cousin" in the new council and was desperate to be included.

Longtime councillor Bob Wichman, who was running in the Manukau ward, put the high turnout down to aggressive campaigning by candidates.

He said a large number of high-quality candidates were fighting to make it into a reduced number of positions. Twelve people were running in the ward, which had only two vacancies.

"I used to be very certain I would get a job," said Mr Wichman. "Now I can't be as certain, so I've posted more leaflets than ever before, and been much more active. It's the same for the others."

Another candidate for the ward, Manukau City councillor Efu Koka, said the high number of churches in South Auckland had been more politically active than in past elections. He also suggested that an exhaustive door-knocking campaign by union leaders had convinced people to vote.

Albany and North Shore voters were the slowest to return their votes.

The poorest turnout was in the Kaipatiki Local Board, with less than 20 per cent.

In greater Auckland, Waiheke, Great Barrier and Rodney had the strongest return of votes. Rural and island communities traditionally have stronger voting records as the local candidates are more likely to be known by the community.

The total voter turnout yesterday reached 24.8 per cent of the 959,120 on the roll. Electoral officer Dale Ofsoske predicted that the final turnout would be between 45 and 50 per cent. In 2007, turnout across Auckland was 37.3 per cent.