Local government election votes need to be posted by Wednesday at the latest - otherwise they can be hand delivered until midday Saturday.
Hand deliveries could go to any of the council offices listed at localelections.co.nz/vote.
Anyone who had not received voting papers in the mail also needed to visit an office to cast a special vote.
Voter turnout had been steadily falling since the 1980s. Northland and Auckland electoral officer Dale Ofsoske said online voting would be a good solution to increase the voter turnout, particularly among young people.
As of today (Monday), 24.54 per cent of eligible voters in Whangarei had returned their votes, compared to 24 per cent at the same point in the 2013 election.