South Waikato is leading the race for the highest voter turnout followed by Rotorua Lakes, Palmerston North and Hamilton. Photos / Danielle Zollickhofer, Andrew Warner, ManawatuNZ.co.nz
South Waikato is leading the race for the highest voter turnout followed by Rotorua Lakes, Palmerston North and Hamilton. Photos / Danielle Zollickhofer, Andrew Warner, ManawatuNZ.co.nz
With very low voter turnout across the country and only nine more days left to cast your vote in local elections several towns have shaped up in a friendly race to score the best voter turnout.
South Waikato, Hamilton, Palmerston North and Rotorua Lakes have taken the battle to Facebook to get their communities to amp up the vote.
Currently, South Waikato is leading the race with a voter turnout of 10.4 per cent, followed by Rotorua Lakes with 10.1 per cent, Palmerston North with 8.5 per cent and Hamilton with just 7.1 per cent.
The race for the highest voter turnout was started by Palmerston North City Council yesterday when they posted on Facebook that they are the better river city as their current voter turnout for the local elections was higher than Hamilton's.
"We're beating Hamilton City Council ... 8.5 per cent of Palmy has voted while Hamilton is sitting at 7.1 per cent. This is our chance to finally prove we're the better city, once and for all."
Hamilton City Council responded today: "Ok Hamilton, Palmerston North City Council is trying to prove they're the better city, because their voter turnout is a tiny bit higher than ours ... are we gonna take that? Go out and vote today, so we can stake our claim as the #greatestrivercity."
Then, South Waikato District Council came into the picture, posting on Facebook: "We heard there's a race going on and we want in! Our South Waikato Community is one to be competitive ... oh and look, we're in the lead! ... Catch us if you can."
South Waikato District Council wants in on the race. Photo / Stephen Parker
Hamilton City Council says the introduction of STV (Single Transferable Voting) and a stacked calendar of meet-the-candidate events could be a reason for slow voting returns.
Council chief executive Lance Vervoort says this could be a good sign.
"If our voter turnout to date is a result of people taking their time to get acquainted with ranking candidates under STV rather than using ticks, and attending election events before making up their mind – that's great."
However, Vervoort says the voter turnout in Hamilton had a "surprisingly slow" start as at the same time during the 2019 local government elections, more than twice as many people had their say, with 14.8 per cent of Hamiltonians having returned their voting papers.
Despite the current polling numbers, Vervoort is backing Hamilton to deliver a result other centres will be envious of.
Hamilton City Council currently has the lowest voter turnout of the four councils. Photo / Supplied
"We have one of the biggest pools of candidates standing for council in the country, and no seats being contested unopposed," Vervoort said.
"This, along with our 2019 turnout, means local democracy is relatively healthy here. Hamiltonians have more choice than their counterparts in other areas."
Hamilton recorded the biggest increase in voter numbers of any metro council in 2019, with its turnout jumping from 33.6 per cent in 2016 to 39.4 per cent in 2019.
So far, the East Ward has returned the most votes with 8 per cent (4175 of 52,269 voters). The West Ward is sitting on 6.9 per cent (3100 of 44,667 voters).
Only 4.2 per cent (550 out 13,247) of those registered on the Kirikiriroa Māori Ward Roll have had their say so far.
Rotorua Lakes is currently runner-up in the race for the highest voter turnout. Photo / Andrew Warner
Hamilton is not alone on the slow-vote trend, with low voter turnout being recorded by councils across the country.
The lowest voter turnout as of Tuesday, September 27, has been recorded in New Plymouth where only 3.7 per cent have had their say.
