Errors found in vote count but final result remains same

A109 Light Utility Helicopter flight with mayor Gisborne City from the air in November 2023.

The Electoral Commission has found vote counting errors in the East Coast electorate, but the final result has not changed.

The votes were included in the preliminary count but were not included in the official count, said chief electoral officer Karl Le Quesne.

The votes were in a ballot box at the electorate headquarters and were missed during the official count.

The votes have now been counted and added to the electorate totals.

Corrections have been made, resulting in 693 votes being added to the total number of party votes cast in the election.

Candidate votes have increased by 708.

Turnout remains unchanged at 78.2 percent.

National’s Dana Kirkpatrick now has a majority of 3199 compared to her election night majority of 3138.