Ruapehu District voting papers posted out from September 20

Ruapehu residents are urged to vote in this year's local authority elections. Photo / Bevan Conley

Ruapehu residents should have their local authority voting papers by September 25, Ruapehu District Council deputy electoral officer Nikki Fieldes said.

Papers for the 2019 Ruapehu District Council, Horizons Regional Council and Whanganui District Health Board elections will be mailed to registered voters from September 20, and all papers are expected to be delivered by the following Wednesday.

Anyone who has not received theirs by then should ring the council on 07 895 8188 or ring its chief returning officer, Warwick Lampp, on 0800 398 683.

The voting papers must be completed and received by the council before midday on election day, October 12. They will use two voting systems, Single Transferable Voting and First Past the Post.

Voting for Ruapehu District Council (Mayor, Taumarunui Ward, National Park Ward and Waimarino-Waiouru Ward), National Park Community Board and Whanganui District Health Board will all use STV. Voting for Ruapehu's councillor at Horizons will use FPP.

Because the number of nominations received was the same as the number of vacancies, there will be no election for Ruapehu's Ohura Ward or the Waimarino-Waiouru Community Board.

There is also no election for the Waikato District Health Board, which has a government-appointed commissioner.

Voting by STV and FPP is simple, Fieldes said.

"With STV voters are required to rank the candidates they want to vote for in order of preference: 1, 2, 3, 4 and so on. You can vote for as many or as few candidates as you like."

She warns people not to put any number by the name of someone they don't want to vote for. They should leave that space blank.

In FPP voters simply put a tick alongside the candidate or candidates they want to vote for.

People will need to read their papers carefully before casting their vote to make sure they are using the right method.

The council is hoping for much a larger voter turnout than it had three years ago.

In the 2016 election, Ruapehu's voter turnout was 46.5 per cent, a drop of nearly 1 per cent from 2013 and below the national average for rural districts of 49.8 per cent.

Electoral rolls have now closed, but people can still vote if they enrol now and ask for special voting papers. Fieldes encouraged people not enrolled to do this.