If this year's local body elections were a race between the three Tauranga City Council wards –Otumoetai/Pyes Pa would be leading.
According to data from Electionz.com, 14.9 per cent of ballot papers in the Otumoetai/Pyes Pa ward have been returned, 13.7 per cent in Mount Maunganui/Papamoa, and 12.5 per cent in Te Papa/Welcome Bay, as of September 28.
After 10 days of voting, 13.7 per cent of Tauranga's eligible voters have returned their ballot papers for this year's Tauranga City Council elections. File Photo.
This translates to 4690 of 31,480 registered voters in Otumoetai/Pyes Pa, 4417 of 32,241 in Mount Maunganui/Papamoa, and 3359 of 26,872 in Te Papa/Welcome Bay.
In total, 13.7 per cent, or 12,444 of Tauranga's 90,628 registered voters, have returned their ballot papers since voting began on September 19.
'There are 11 strong candidates for the Tauranga mayoralty this year, so you can run the argument that people are waiting to see what happens in the campaign before they make their mind up,” says Tauranga's chief electoral officer Warwick Lampp.
'You can run all sorts of arguments. If you look at all the council elections which Electionz.com manage, across the country we're bang on where we were three years ago; some are down, some are up. There's no real rhyme or reason to it.”
The percentage of ballot papers returned after 10 days of voting is also lower when compared to previous Tauranga City Council elections, with 16.2 per cent returned in 2013, 14.2 per cent in 2010 and 21.6 per cent in 2007 during the same period.
Tauranga City voters are also being outdone by their neighbours voting in the Western Bay of Plenty District Council elections.
According to the latest Independent Election Services Ltd data, 18.7 per cent, or 6375 of Western Bay's 34,177 eligible voters, have cast their vote as of September 28.
Broken down by the three wards, 20.1 per cent (2050 of 10,175) of ballot papers have been returned in Katikati/Waihi Beach, 18.8 per cent (2100 of 11,143) in Maketu/Te Puke, and 17.3 per cent (2225 of 12,859) in Kaimai.
3 comments
Hardly Surprising
Posted on 29-09-2016 17:23 | By Taffy
No wonder the count is low i will be surprised if it isn,t the lowest ever when it finishes.Look at all the so called projects all the candidates both mayoral and councillor profess to impliment or fix.It was exactly the same 3 years ago.Oh Yes I will vote even though I am struggling to find even one to vote for in my ward.
last election was disappointing
Posted on 30-09-2016 08:44 | By jed
The candidates from the last election promised a fresh approach, but we got same old same old. Whats the difference this time? Everyone lies about how good they are.
Votes
Posted on 30-09-2016 17:55 | By Crash test dummies
In 2007 it was some 46%, 2013 37% so the pattern is consistent. The real question is why? Most likely a lack of an online option and the frustration over Councillors and TCC generally ignoring ratepayers all contribute to the end result.
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