No plural voting in council works referendum

The principle of one person, one vote, will apply to next month's Wanganui District Council capital works referendum.
People who owned more than one property would only be entitled to one vote with the electoral roll used to determine people's eligibility, Mayor Michael Laws said yesterday.
The voting paper would allow two people who owned the same house to have a vote each, with vertical columns for each voter next to the list of projects.
Between April 18-22 voting papers, summary document and reply paid envelope would be distributed to ratepayers via the fourth rates instalment notice.
Of the 19,500 rateable properties in the district, about 15,000 would receive that notice.
Those who did not get a paper, for example because they had already paid their rates in full or made automatic payments, plus residents, could ring council for one to be sent out or collect one.
A week earlier background information would be distributed by NZ Post to every residence, boxholder and RD address in Wanganui.
The referendum working party was finalising details of the communications strategy, Mr Laws said.
The projects had been costed by council officers and would be described in a way everyone could understand. Voters would need to write their name and address on the paper and sign it.
While those processing the results would know how a person voted, this would be no different to a returning officer during a local body election, he said.
If Mr and Mrs Smith who owned 1 Brown St did not want each other to see how they voted, they could request another form.
Ratepayers living outside the district would be able to vote.
Of the 14 projects, voters would be asked to rank their top three. The counting system was still being finalised, but Mr Laws said the top ranked project could be assigned a three, the second project a two and the third ranked a one to give an idea of support for each project.
He would be surprised with a less then 50 percent turnout. He suggested every person who voted in last year's local body election (67 percent turnout) would vote in the referendum, which was in many ways more relevant "because this is about spending their own money".
The poll could not be binding as the Local Government Act said this would preclude council having an open mind during annual plan deliberations.
Mr Laws would have preferred it was binding. "I will be bound by it in my voting and my deliberations, but other councillors will obviously bring their own particular views to this matter."
If the turnout was less than 25 percent council might have some worries about the results, but he could not "conceive that there won't be anything other than a good turnout".
"It's a simple question ? if you don't put your vote in, then you don't participate in how your money's spent."
Referenda took lobby groups out of the play and meant council could find out what the "real people", the silent majority thought, he said.
"I think Wanganui people will feel connected with their council in a way they've never felt connected before because we trust the people."
The deadline for returning the papers is May 30 and the results would be considered during the annual plan process.