A first of its kind campaign is being launched today that will help voters in local body elections identify conspiracy theorists and extremists.

Local Government New Zealand is behind the move to educate voters with its guide to getting to know their local body candidates.

Anti-misinformation group FACT Aotearoa has identified candidates with extreme views or association with antivax or anti-government movements.

It has identified 170 candidates of concern and says many are trying to hide their extreme views.

Massey University Centre for Defence and Security Studies director Dr William Hoverd says some will inevitably find success.

"Extreme individuals will get onto to local body government and local body councils, simply because we have such low and apathetic voter turnout in those spaces.

"People won't even know who they're voting for or why - they'll just get on, and then if that candidate is able to engender particular support as well then it's going to make them even more powerful."

People with ideas outside the mainstream have always sought elected office, but this year it's particularly apparent as the 23-day occupation of Parliament has unified and galvanised groups with little in common other than their dissatisfaction with the government, says Dr Hoverd.

"What's new is how the vaccine mandate, dissatisfaction with the Jacinda Ardern government and the Wellington protest have fuelled the proliferation of these types of ideas and dissent in local body elections."

Low voter turnout is a critical factor in the ability for extreme candidates to gain seats of power.

An example is Tauranga. At the 2020 general election, political parties pushing conspiracy theories or extremist ideologies got about four per cent of the vote - only marginally more than they garnered nationwide.

But in this year's by-election, candidates from those same parties picked up more than 7.5 per cent despite fewer votes being cast for them compared to 2020.

That was the impact of a 40 per cent turnout at the by-election compared to almost 85 per cent in 2020.

Local Government New Zealand chief executive Susan Freeman-Greene agrees turnout is a problem.

"We need to do a much better job of shifting our voter turnout from the 40 per cent it is at the moment closer to what happens in general elections, which is about 80 per cent."

She hopes educating and empowering voters will send more to the polls.

"It's great to see more people have put their hand up to run in this year's election, compared with the previous election in 2019. But we've heard from many voters that they don't feel like they actually know enough about the candidates standing.

"Everyone enrolled to vote will receive their voting papers in a couple of weeks. With District Health Boards disestablished this year, voters can just focus on councils. This is a timely reminder that while all candidates have bios in the voting papers, it's important to do your own research into people running so you know how they will work together, represent the community's views and what their policy positions are."

LGNZ's campaign encouraged people to go to meet the candidate-type events and go armed with questions such as "What do you see as the biggest challenges facing your community?", "Why are you running this election?" and "What are your thoughts around the role of local and central government in Aotearoa?".

Voters should also visit the Policy.NZ website, where candidates had provided their views on a range of topics.

FACT Aotearoa spokesperson Stephen Judd said the difficulty was many extremists were attempting to hide their views.

"Everybody has the right to run and everybody has the right to their own ideas - that's not in dispute. The issue is when people have ideas and affiliations but they don't disclose them so when the public comes to vote for them, they're not aware of what they are voting for."

-RNZ.