Wanganui voters out in force on 'h' issue

A big response to Wanganui District Council's latest referendum is being attributed to the addition of a sixth question asking voters if they want an "h" added to Wanganui.

By midday yesterday 15,266 voting papers had been returned, representing more than 48.9 per cent of papers sent out to the district's 31,200 eligible voters - with a week still to go.

Noeline Moosman, the council's electoral officer, told the Wanganui Chronicle the returns showed the referendum was tracking well ahead of the previous three.

The accelerated response could be attributed to the inclusion of a sixth -- and contentious -- question asking voter if voters wanted an "h" added to the district's name of Wanganui.

Initially Referendum 09 included five questions on the council's 10-year draft plan.

But the sixth was added after the New Zealand Geographic Board decided to publicly consult on changing the name to Whanganui.

An extraordinary council meeting on April 6 saw the councillors vote 9-4 in favour of including a question in the referendum about whether residents prefer the city to be spelled Wanganui or Whanganui.

- NZPA