Voting papers arrived in Whanganui letterboxes between September 16 and September 21, and people had until October 4 to send them via mail. Photo / Michael Cunningham
Whanganui's voter turnout in this year's local elections was higher than last time out, but not by much.
Excluding special votes, there was a return was 46.42 per cent or 15,605 votes.
In the 2019 elections, 44.17 per cent of all eligible votes were returned.
Whanganui District Council's democracy services manager Kate Barnes said operating local elections was really challenging because it was primarily a postal vote.
"In 2022, that's a really difficult platform/channel to run an election on.
"The turnout is not super high across the country and I think it's always valuable to regularly review if the election is working well for the community to ensure as many people as possible can have a say."
Andrew Tripe claimed the Whanganui mayoralty with a final vote tally of 8393, over 2000 more than incumbent Hamish McDouall.
Helen Craig got the most votes in the race to the council, with 9169.
Of the 15,605 local votes, 5114 were made in person, Barnes said.
"That includes people coming directly into the council itself, which a lot like to do.
"On the final day (October 8) we got about 1150 votes in orange bins across Whanganui, with just over 800 in the front door of council."
Local Government New Zealand (LGNZ) has called for an independent review of local elections after it was revealed national turnout was 36 per cent.
To make a real difference, a deliberate effort had to be made by councils and communities to better engage with each other in the decisions councils are making, LGNZ president Stuart Crosby said.
"LGNZ wants to work with central government to review how elections can be delivered more consistently and impactfully, including communication, engagement, the practicality of postal voting, and things like access to ballot boxes in more remote parts of the country."
In Ruapehu, the voter return was 48.92 per cent for 2022, almost exactly the same as three years earlier (48.87 per cent).
Voter return in Rangitīkei was 45.48 per cent or 5,005 votes.
It was 46.79 per cent in 2019.
Rangitīkei District Council's deputy electoral officer Carol Gordon said given the challenges of the past three years, she was pleased to see just under half of the eligible voters voted this year.
"However, the best result for us would be as close to 100 per cent voter turnout as possible.
"We hope to see a larger turnout in 2025, as a number of our big capital projects will come to fruition which will help our community to better understand what value council adds, and how they can influence change with their vote."
Any national changes that made voting easier for the community and increased voter turnout would be welcomed, Gordon said.
Regional election officer Warwick Lampp said in his view, turnout for councils like Whanganui hadn't been bad at all.
"I have no problems with a review though, I'm dead keen. It's a good idea.
"For me, the postal voting period is too short. The postal system these days isn't really fit for purpose for a big mail out like this."