With just days to go in Northland's 2013 local elections, voter turnout is still trailing well behind the previous election in 2010.
Voting is especially slow in Whangarei, where just 24 per cent of 55,000-plus registered voters had had their say as of yesterday, compared with 29.5 per cent at the same time in 2010.
The most committed voters so far are in the very Far North where 34.5 per cent of North Cape voters - more than one in three - had cast their votes as of yesterday.
Whangarei's low turnout so far comes despite the widest choice, and least certain outcome, of any recent election. Twelve people are vying to replace outgoing Whangarei Mayor Morris Cutforth with issues like the Hundertwasser Arts Centre sparking strong opinions.
Whangarei's best voting as of yesterday, 26 per cent, is in the Whangarei Heads and Hikurangi-Coastal wards.