Voting papers for the 2019 Ruapehu District Council, Horizons Regional Council and Whanganui District Health Board elections will be mailed to registered voters from Friday 20 September with all papers expected to be delivered by Wednesday 25 September.

Ruapehu Deputy Electoral Officer Nikki Fieldes said that anyone who has not received their papers by then (Wed 25 Sept) should contact Council on 07 895 8188 or call our Chief Returning Officer Warwick Lampp on 0800 398 683.

“Voting papers must be completed and received by the council before midday on Election Day, 12 October 2019,” she said.

“For these elections the voting papers will use both the Single Transferable Voting (STV) and the First Past the Post (FPP) voting systems depending on the organisation you are voting for.

The voting papers for Ruapehu District Council (Mayor, Taumarunui Ward, National Park Ward and Waimarino-Waiouru Ward), National Park Community Board and Whanganui District Health Board will use the Single Transferable Voting (STV) system while the election for Ruapehu’s Councillor to Horizons Regional Council will use the First Past the Post (FPP) voting system.

As the number of nominations received did not exceed the number of vacancies there will be no election for the Ohura Ward for Ruapehu District Council or the Waimarino-Waiouru Community Board.

There is also no election for the Waikato District Health Board as it is being governed by a Government appointed Commissioner.”

Ms Fieldes said that voting by either STV or FPP is equally simple.

“With STV voters are required to rank the candidates they want to vote for in order of preference (i.e. 1, 2, 3, 4, etc.

You can vote for as many or as few candidates as you like however, people should note that if they do not want to see someone elected do not put any number by their name and leave the space by their name blank.

For the FPP system voters are simply required to put a tick alongside the candidate(s) they wish to vote for.

Council is hoping for much larger voter turnout than the previous election three years ago.

In the 2016 elections Ruapehu had a voter turnout of 46.5% which was a drop of -0.9% from 2013 and under the national average for all rural districts of 49.8%.

People should read their papers carefully before casting their vote to ensure they are using the right voting method,” said Ms Fieldes.

Although electoral rolls have now closed, people can still vote by enrolling now and requesting special voting papers.

I would encourage anyone who is not enrolled to do so and cast a special vote and have your say on how Ruapehu is run over the next three years.

Profile information on all candidates is available via Council’s website (see Council and Community Board elections link on ruapehudc.govt.nz homepage),” she said.

SEE: http://bit.ly/Vote2019Ruapehu

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