Nearly 400,000 Aucklanders turned out to cast their vote in the city’s third local elections since amalgamation, arresting the decline in voter turnout.
Last-minute votes made difference
A last-minute rush on Saturday morning saw around 18,000 votes hand delivered to ballot boxes at council libraries and service centres across the region before the noon deadline.
“We had a similar late flurry of eleventh-hour nominations for candidates which is indicative of the way our society moves today,” Electoral Officer Dale Ofsoske said.
Rise in turnout
Official results released this morning show the final voter turnout figure in Auckland could rise to 38.5 per cent once special results have been added. The national voter turnout was 41.8 per cent, slightly above the 2013 figure of 41.3 per cent.
Community events
Auckland Council ran a communication programme to encourage wide voter participation, including reaching out to young people and new migrants.
There were 80 community events, an interactive website with candidate information for voters to make their choice and options of how and where to vote.
Final votes confirm new councillor for North Shore
The final election results confirm Richard Hills as the candidate who will join Chris Darby as councillor for the North Shore ward.
The final count for the Waitematā Local Board election saw Vernon Tava edge out Jonathan Good by just 10 votes to overturn the preliminary results from Saturday.
Full results
The declaration of the Auckland local body election results will be published in the New Zealand Herald on Saturday.
