Tuesday was the last day to cast a postal vote, but voters can still cast a special vote. Photo / Laura Smith
Rotorua's voter turnout is tracking on par with the last election, but a local government expert warns "apathy" could lead to the loss of local voice.
The Rotorua Lakes Council has revealed it has spent almost $115,000 on election promotion to date.
On Tuesday, daily returns from Electionz, which runs Rotorua's district council elections, reported 20.28 per cent - or 10,004 - of eligible voters had voted.
The return was similar at the same point in the last local election, where 20.86 per cent of votes were cast by October 3.
The biggest day for voting in the district so far was September 30, with 2988 votes cast that day.
On Tuesday, Rotorua mayor Steve Chadwick, who is not standing for re-election, said while numbers at this point were "on par" with 2019, she urged people to "make their vote count".
"We will have change and need a majority to vote who and what they want as a council team and leader.
"This is more vital now than ever as we face big challenges and can only do this when we have a strong team."
Local Government New Zealand chief executive Susan Freeman-Greene said she was pleased to see more people getting out and voting in Rotorua as the election approached.
"Generally, councils that have competitive mayoral races like we see in Rotorua usually enjoy better turnout.
"The main gap we're seeing is between people getting their papers and actually posting their votes or putting them in the boxes. And that's what we want everyone to do this week - make it a priority."
She encouraged people to cast a special vote now the postal ballot was closed and said enrolments were still open.
"We have an incredible opportunity with the future for local government review to rethink how local elections are conducted, and that's a discussion we want to pick up after these elections."
Freeman-Greene said a polling day could galvanise voters and online voting needed to be on the table.
While it is too late to post a vote in an NZ Post box, voting papers can be placed in designated ballot boxes around the region. People who have not received voting papers can cast a special vote.
Local Government New Zealand president Stuart Crosby said declining voter turnout had been an issue for at least the past 12 years and voting was important because councils "have a huge impact on your daily life".
Crosby, who is also a Bay of Plenty regional councillor is seeking re-election, said challenges were two-fold this election - one to get candidates to stand, and then to get people to vote - the latter had "definitely been a worry" now and previously.
"That is not healthy for our sector."
Crosby believed Covid-19 and the cost of living had affected voter turnout, with people more focused on those issues.
He said elections were "not their priority, to be frank".
Other reasons included people not knowing who the candidates were, not having "good information" about them and an "antiquated" ballot paper system that should be electronic.
There needed to be more "in-depth research" about the reasons for turnout levels, he said.
According to the Department of Internal Affairs website, national voter turnout was 57 per cent in 1989 when a nationwide local government restructure took place.
"There needs to be an understanding at a very young age about democracy, about your rights to vote, about your rights to influence decision-making that impacts on your own community. I think over the generations we've lost that."
Rotorua Lakes Council deputy electoral officer Rick Dunn said voter turnout in Rotorua had "remained relatively stable" for the last three local elections.
He said the council had spent $114,567 on election promotion to date, which included via its website, advertisements in print and on radio, on buses and bus shelters, billboards, on social media and digital channels.
It also included promotion of the election at the customer centre and library, and the delivery of the 2022 pre-election report into letterboxes, and online.
Dunn said the council aimed to increase voter participation and "considerable effort" went into promoting the election, including encouraging people to stand, reminding people to enrol, then encouraging people to vote and providing information about how.
"We can't speculate on why people may choose to not vote, but anecdotally there seems to be plenty of interest in this year's election.
"We often do get a flurry of votes during the final days."
He said the council had received reports of people not receiving voting papers - which happened every election for various reasons. People can make special votes.
Dunn said special voting was quick and easy and was available until midday on Saturday.
Those not yet enrolled could do so until October 7, at vote.nz. Those people could then get voting papers from the council and submit them - also at the council - by midday on Saturday.
"People can simply come into the Civic Centre and we'll get them sorted."
Local government expert Dr Andy Asquith said voter turnout levels followed a continuing trend.
"The simple fact is, voter turnout - to use a technical term - is s***.
"Democracy is taken for granted."
Asquith, a Curtin University adjunct research fellow and local government change management expert, said he thought Three Waters reform would have fuelled interest in local government but it hadn't appeared to so far.
Asquith said while some believed online voting would be "a silver bullet" he was dubious.
He said the method of voting was not as important as whether a voter was engaged and informed. If they weren't either of those things, online voting wouldn't have an impact.
He said there were also concerns about the security of online voting.
He said if local elections were centralised, there would be "consistency" in voting promotion.
One would-be voter, who wanted to remain anonymous for fear of backlash, told Local Democracy Reporting they were not "bothered" to vote.
"Maybe if it affects my job or my everyday life, I might take it more seriously but until then, good luck everyone."
Local Democracy Reporting asked people on the street if they had voted and why.
[I voted] early. It's important to have a say in what is happening ... There are so many people who are cynical ... the way to get things happening is by voting.
Terry Fairbrother
I voted last Friday. It's really important we all have a say. If you're upset about something, how can you complain if you don't vote?
Andra Cornwall
I always vote - because we can. Lots of countries, people aren't allowed to vote and people riot and people get murdered and have these awful dictatorial governments because they've got no rights, and here it's just a birthright, so you should bloody well take advantage of it.
Donna McLeod
I haven't voted yet but usually do.
Voting is a must. You must do all that you can to put people that you want in. If you don't vote you can't moan. It's a public service and they're voted in to do a job for all of us.
Kath
(No surname provided)
Local Democracy Reporting is public interest journalism funded by NZ On Air.
A motorbike overtook a car and hit a pedestrian on Edmund Rd.