In all, votes total a provisional 59,427, and would have gone over 60,000 had it not been for the downturn in Napier, which in addition to the mayoralty, claimed unopposed by one-term incumbent Bill Dalton, was also without an election in Onekawa-Tamatea, one of the city's four wards.
The results produced no reversals from preliminary results announced at the weekend, when margins generally sorted out the makeup of the councils, the Hawke's Bay Regional Council, and health boards, apart from in Hastings where district council candidates Ann Redstone and Jason Whaitiri sweated over a two-vote majority to Ms Redstone, which was doubled in the final count, in another triumph for female representation on councils throughout the region.
The most popularly supported council candidates in the region were Hawke's Bay Regional Council Napier constituency's Neil Kirton, with 11,425 votes, and Napier City Council at-large candidate Kirsten Wise, with 10,944 votes in being returned for a second term.
The only others to have five-figure support were Napier council newcomer Claire Hague and council senior statesman Tony Jeffery, and regional council Hastings member Rex Graham.
Voting turnout details available by last night and excluding special votes:
Napier: votes 18,803 - turnout 43.85 per cent (2013 votes 20,052, 48 per cent).
Hastings: votes 24,860 - turnout 46.78 per cent (2013 votes 23,175, 45 per cent).
Central Hawke's Bay: votes 5964 - turnout 62.66 per cent (2013 votes 5153, 55 per cent).
Tararua: votes 6449 - turnout 53.47 per cent (2013 votes 6105, 50 per cent).
Wairoa (preliminary): votes 3351 - 62 per cent (2013 votes 3246, 62 per cent).
TOTALS: votes 59,427 - 48.14 per cent (2013 votes 57,731, 48 per cent).