The Front Page podcast: Why online voting is coming for local elections, ready or not

Each week The Front Page takes you behind the scenes of the biggest story from the New Zealand Herald and Newstalk ZB. Today it's miniscule numbers of people voting in local elections, and what needs to change. Hosted by Frances Cook.

Local body elections are closing this weekend, but are already marred by plummeting voter turnout in many areas.

At the last available count, 22.6 per cent of Auckland's voters have had a say.

Meanwhile in Wellington, as of Wednesday, only 25.4 per cent have cast a vote.

Some, even the Prime Minister herself, are suggesting this means it's time to change.

Jacinda Ardern has stated she wants online voting to be an option in the 2022 local elections.

But do we blame lazy voters, uninspiring council candidates, or the system itself?

Herald super city reporter Bernard Orsman and Herald Wellington issues reporter Georgina Campbell joined me on the latest Front Page podcast.

We talked about what they've seen going wrong, whether online voting will fix it, and who's really to blame.

For the interview, watch the podcast video above.

If you have questions about Herald investigations, or want to stay up to date on social media, you can find host Frances Cook on Facebook here , Instagram here and Twitter here .

You can subscribe to this podcast on the podcast apps, including iHeartRadio here , Apple podcasts here , Spotify here , and Google podcasts here .