Earlier local body result likely with high-tech aid

By BERNARD ORSMAN

A new law that allows early processing of votes in the local body elections is expected to produce quick results and avoid the vote-counting shambles of the 1999 general election.

Many electoral officers will feed the postal votes for the local council and district health board elections into computers as they come in. The votes cannot be counted until the polls close at noon on October 13.

At the 1998 local body polls, vote-processing could start 3 1/2 days out from the closing, but this still left contenders biting their nails late on election night to hear the results.

In the 1999 general election, delays of up to three days from manually counting votes caused outrage and triggered an inquiry.

Prime Minister Helen Clark said it was time to look at the American system of electronic voting, especially for cities and large towns.

The Government has no plans for electronic voting at next year's general election, although some votes will be counted four hours before the polls close at 7 pm.

Auckland City electoral officer Dale Ofsoske said the new system would provide an earlier and more accurate result. He believed he would be able to release final results by 5 pm.

He said the new system had also reduced the number of Auckland electoral staff from 200 people in 1998 to 40 this year.

Not all electoral officers are convinced about the new vote processing system. North Shore electoral officer Peter McArthur said there was the potential for information to be leaked.

He said computers were secure but it was possible for staff processing the votes to observe trends over the three weeks of the postal vote and leak information.

He said he would not start processing votes until 9 am on October 13.

Electoral officers and their deputies who reveal polling details early can be fined up to $5000 and other electoral staff up to $2000.

Counting the votes

1. Each voting envelope returned has a barcode that is scanned linking it to an electoral-roll number.

The envelopes are opened by hand, sorted according to wards and checked to see that the votes are marked correctly.

Votes are processed using a scanner pen that reads a unique barcode alongside each tick box.

The votes are recorded by the computer but not counted.

After polls close and the scanning of votes has been completed, two electoral officers, each with a different code, activate the computer to count the votes and produce the results.

* The process, from start to finish, is overseen by justices of the peace. Scrutineers for the candidates can monitor the process.

* This is the process being followed by the Manukau electoral office.


Feature: Local body elections 2001

www.localgovt.co.nz