Reading this before noon? It’s not too late
THE shape and future direction of councils in the South is in your hands.
But if the actual voting papers are still in your hands, it is not too late. You have until noon today at council offices and service centres to ensure your vote is counted.
This is a vital part of the democratic process — you need to have a say in selecting who will be charged with shaping the course of the councils in the South.
Go online at www.odt.co.nz today to keep up with all the results and reaction from the elections throughout the country and region. We expect results to come through from midafternoon, and our reporters will post news and video as the news breaks.
The Otago Daily Times will provide comprehensive coverage on Monday, including a 12page special liftout, ‘‘The South Decides’’. Don’t miss it.
THE final turnout for Dunedin’s local body elections is in the hands of the voters.
Dunedin City Council general manager city services Sandy Graham said remaining city voters must handdeliver their voting envelopes only, to a voting office at the Civic Centre or nearby voting boxes in the Octagon by noon today.
‘‘That’s the only option and votes have to be with the election staff before noon.’’
Ms Graham emphasised it was far too late to attempt further postal voting.
She said she was expecting a final turnout closer to the 43.49% of 2013 than the 45.17% of the eligible vote achieved in 2016.
On Wednesday, a sizeable amount of postal votes apparently briefly brought the cumulative percentage of the vote cast to 34.64%, up slightly on the 32.89% figure on the comparable date in 2016.
Nevertheless, Ms Graham pointed out that the 37,156 returns (39.75%) as of yesterday was below the 41.02% that had voted by the same stage in 2016.
A high proportion of the further votes received yesterday had arrived by hand, and ‘‘very few votes’’ had come through postal voting.
‘‘We always want more people to vote.
‘‘The more people that vote the better,’’ she said.