27 July 2011

Greater Wellington Regional Council Moves to STV

The Greater Wellington Regional Council today resolved to move to a Single Transferable Voting (STV) for the 2013 and 2016 local government elections.

Councillor Daran Ponter (Wellington City) says “This is a vote for democracy – everyone’s vote counts – it is much fairer”.

The Greater Wellington Regional Council’s decision means that the Wellington City, Porirua City and Kapiti Coast areas would have full STV voting in 2013 (i.e. the local councils, the Capital and Coast District Health Board and the Regional Council will all be STV).

Councillor Ponter says that this will make voting far easier for electors and result in far less “wasted” votes due to confusion between two different voting systems on one ballot paper.

STV would be the predominant voting system in the Hutt Valley and Wairarapa areas (both the Health Boards and the Regional Councils will be STV), with only the local councils remaining on the First Past the Post system.

The Greater Wellington Regional Council is the first Regional Council to adopt the STV voting system.

Councillor Ponter says that it is hope that in time other councils will make the move to the fairer voting system.

ENDS

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