Auckland to miss out on online voting for council elections

Auckland Council has lobbied hard to introduce internet voting. Photo / Richard Robinson

Auckland has missed out on a voting experiment because it is too big.

Aucklanders won't be able to choose their next council at the click of a mouse.

Local Government Associate Minister Louise Upston confirmed that the country's biggest city wouldn't feature in a trial of online voting for next year's local body elections.

Officials from the Super City are some of the biggest supporters of a digital voting revolution, but Auckland Council's catchment has been deemed too big.

"A trial that includes all of Auckland and its approximately 1 million electors is simply too large to adequately mitigate these risks," she said.

Stung by a dismal 36 per cent voter turnout in the 2013 elections, Auckland Council has lobbied hard to introduce internet voting.

But its campaign has failed. Applications are now only being sought from smaller councils to provide a range of voting systems.

So far, Porirua, Rotorua, Palmerston North, Matamata-Piako, Selwyn, Marlborough and Whanganui councils have confirmed that they want to be part of the trial.

Auckland Council bosses are not happy about being sidelined as they consider the council is well placed to take part.

"We were disappointed the Government decided to exclude the council from the online voting trial," manager democracy services, Marguerite Delbet, said.

The council had been actively working to introduce online voting and this year asked the Government to allow it.

Its plan had suggested staggering the introduction of online voting in planned stages, starting with voters who were visually impaired or disabled.

It would then be expanded to other groups of voters over subsequent elections.

Local Government New Zealand president Lawrence Yule said although the council was understandably disappointed, a request to introduce voting to select groups of electors, combined with its million-plus voters, ruled them out of any trial.

Councils faced increasing levels of voter apathy. The 2013 elections recorded a dismal 41.3 per cent turnout across the country. The switch to online was hoped to reverse this trend.

"But the international evidence would suggest it doesn't improve voter turnout," Yule said.

Cabinet will decide whether the project goes ahead later this year.