The Electoral Commission is urging people to get a move on and enrol now to make voting easy in the October local body elections.

"The local elections are held by a postal vote, and you need to be enrolled at the correct address by Friday, August 12, to receive your voting papers in the mail," says enrolment and community engagement acting national manager Ross McPherson.

"If you've already checked your enrolment details are up to date, then you're all set to vote. If you haven't checked, take a few minutes to do it now and it'll make voting in the local elections much easier."

At the start of July, enrolment update packs were sent to more than 3.5m enrolled voters.

Since then, more than 165,000 people have taken the opportunity to apply to enrol or update their details.

"We've also had about 100,000 packs sent back to us marked return to sender. If you've moved recently, make sure you change your address on the electoral roll so you don't miss out on voting in the local elections."

People can enrol, check, or update their details online at vote.nz using their New Zealand driver licence, New Zealand passport, or RealMe verified identity.

They can also call 0800 36 76 56 and ask for an enrolment form to be sent to them.

Anyone enrolling after 12 August will need to contact their local council to arrange a special vote.

More information on the local elections

Local councils will start sending out voting papers on September 16 and voting closes at midday on Saturday, October 8.

More councils will have Māori wards and constituencies at this year's elections.

If a voter is on the Māori roll and their local council has Māori wards or constituencies, they will vote for candidates standing in the Māori wards or constituencies.

Go to vote.nz for information on enrolling to vote. More information on the local elections is available on the Taituarā and Local Government New Zealand website www.votelocal.co.nz or from your local council.