By GRANT FLEMING
Opposition MPs claim that Government law changes could result in a record number of invalid votes in last weekend's local body elections.
The number of votes "biffed in the bin" could eventually climb to about 100,000 once processing is finished, National Party local government spokesman Nick Smith said yesterday.
Yesterday was the deadline for returns, but only some were completed due to a computer glitch at NZ Post subsidiary Datamail, one of the companies contracted to process votes.
Dr Smith said 11 per cent of votes for the Auckland District Health Board, which used the single transferable voting (STV) system, had been discarded by officials because they were incorrectly filled in. The figure at Northland DHB was 13 per cent.
Dr Smith said the Auckland figure was 15 times higher than at the previous election, held under the first-past-the-post system.
He blamed voter confusion with STV, which was allowed in under law changes made by the current Government.
"How could [Local Government Minister Chris Carter] say yesterday there was no problem with STV in areas which did not use Datamail, like the Auckland DHB, when 12,349 votes had been discarded - 15 times what there were at the prior election?" Dr Smith said in Parliament.
He said Electionz.com, the company counting the votes, estimated 100,000 votes across the elections were "biffed in the bin".
The number of spoiled votes across the whole of the 2001 local government elections was 4.1 per cent.
"Chris Carter proclaimed that the Government's new Local Electoral Act would increase participation and fairness. It is doing exactly the opposite," Dr Smith said.
But Mr Carter said it was too early to tell the final number of invalid votes, and said such votes had risen significantly under the previous National Government.
In 1989 the proportion of invalid votes was just 4.6 per cent, but it had risen to 5.4 per cent in 1992, 5.8 per cent in 1995 and 5.9 per cent in 1998 - all under the National-led Government.
The Minister told Parliament that the high number of invalid Auckland health board votes did not paint an accurate picture of STV elections around the country.
At Taranaki DHB, where a final count had been returned, invalid votes were just 5.8 per cent.
In mayoral elections for Papakura, Thames Coromandel and Kaipara the number of invalid votes was less than 1 per cent.
Mr Carter has distanced himself from the counting botch-up, saying it was local councils that decided how and who would count the vote.
However, Dr Smith said the minister, who had this year crowed about the successful partnership between central and local government, was now ducking for cover.
"What sort of partnership is it when the moment anything goes wrong he says he has nothing to do with it?"
Dr Smith questioned why officials were involved in the development of the calculator for working out final STV results but not the development of the actual vote counting system.
"This is akin to checking the motor but not checking the tyres on a car."
- NZPA
Herald Feature: Local Vote 2004
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