By-election nears end but people need to vote

‘‘It's important to vote.’’

With only a week to go until voting closing for the Turangi-Tongariro by-election, time is starting to run out to cast a vote.

Turangi-Tongariro Community Board chair Andy Hema said the Turangi community needs to get voting.

‘‘If you care about your community and you want to have your save; vote,’’ he said, ‘‘It’s important to vote for the person you think is going to deliver.’’

To date, 25 per cent of returns have been collected and concerns have been raised, that with only days to go, not many people in the Turangi community have voted.

Warwick Lampp, business development for Electionz said he’s not concerned at the moment about the number of votes.

‘‘It’s no different than normal compared to other by-elections,’’ he said. ‘‘They’re always lower than the main election counts. It’s on track.’’

Maggie Stewart, Chris Te Whare and Te Takinga New are the councillor candidates while Cristina Duff, Clinton Green, Pauline Jenkins, Gustav Kleingeld, and John Tupara are contesting the TurangiTongariro community board position.

Hema said he was pleased with the number of candidates who signed up.

‘‘It’s certainly good to see the number of people who put their hands up for these positions,’’ he said.

‘‘It’s important for these people to support Turangi and for the community to cast a vote.’’