Last chance to vote in Hamilton's East Ward byelection

Hamilton City Council's Municipal Building behind Garden Place is opening specially on Saturday morning to receive East Ward byelection votes.

As of Friday morning, 11,967 votes had been returned in Hamilton City Council's East Ward byelection. The council says the returned votes represent 21.56 per cent of the 55,512 voting papers initially issued.

Voters have until noon on Saturday to cast their votes. Fifteen candidates are standing.

Votes can be dropped in a ballot box at Customer Services in the council's Municipal Building behind Garden Place, which is opening specially on Saturday morning from 8am to noon, or at the Hillcrest Library or the Chartwell Library until 5.30pm on Friday today or from 9am to 12 noon on Saturday. It is now too late to post in votes.

The preliminary result of the East Ward byelection is expected to be published about 4.30pm on Saturday via hamilton.govt.nz/byelection, Facebook and a media advisory.

The final result will be declared on Wednesday, February 21, and the successful candidate will be sworn in at a special council meeting at 9am on Thursday, February 22.

The byelection vote returns on Friday morning compare to the 31.5 per cent of East Ward papers returned by the day before the 2016 full council election, when the final total including special votes came to 35.4 per cent.

The East Ward byelection was prompted by the passing of Councillor Philip Yeung on September 30 last year.