Hand-delivering vote will ensure it counts

Tanya Gaskin ensures her vote is counted at the Wanganui District Council offices. All votes now should be hand-delivered. PHOTO/STUART MUNRO

A warning from returning officers that if you haven't already mailed your voting papers in the local body elections, then hand-delivering them is the only way they will get there in time.

Voting closes at midday on Saturday and electors had the chance to mail their selections. But yesterday Noeline Moosman, the Wanganui electoral officer, said mailing them from today would be too late.

"We're urging voters to hand-deliver their voting documents from now, as posting will most likely not reach us in time for close-off at 12 noon on Saturday."

The electoral office, at the Wanganui District Council in Guyton St, will be open on Saturday from 9am until midday for people to hand-deliver their voting papers as well.

An earlier reminder to Wanganui voters to get their papers in paid off, with the weekend's mail delivering almost 2000 returns to the electoral office.

As of yesterday afternoon 13,350 voting papers had been received and that was 43.1 per cent of the 30,987 people on the Wanganui electoral role.

Mrs Moosman said the weekend mail brought in 1975 papers and another 1250 were delivered yesterday.

In the 2010 elections, the 18,717 votes cast represented slightly more than 60 per cent of the electorate but those returns were slightly less than the election of 2007.

Meanwhile, Mrs Moosman has emailed all the candidates for the Wanganui District Council and Whanganui District Health Board elections to outline to them how they will learn of their progress on Saturday.

She said preliminary results for the mayoralty and council were expected to be released by mid-afternoon.

Another protocol is being observed and that is around who gets news first.

In Wanganui, the successful mayoral candidate will be notified before the unsuccessful candidates are told. The same sequence will follow for the council election, with the 12 successful candidates told, then the unsuccessful candidates.

Preliminary results will be emailed to all candidates and then the results will be placed on the council web page by late Saturday afternoon (see www.wanganui.govt.nz).

Mrs Moosman expects to have a progress result from the district health board by about 7pm but it will not be a full count.

She said the voting papers from Rangitikei and Ruapehu residents voting for the WDHB are processed outside of Wanganui so the progress result will include all ordinary votes received by the Wanganui electoral office by midday on Saturday along with all the votes received from Rangitikei and Ruapehu voters up to the day before.

The final declaration of results is expected to be publicly notified on Wednesday.