Prepare for vote. Photo: Tara Winstead
Waitomo voters are leading the charge with the best voter turnout for Saturday’s local body elections across local authorities in Good Local Media’s readership.
Waitomo District Council voter turnout was 28.88 per cent by October 3, according to figures provided by chief returning officer Warwick Lampp, with 1728 of eligible voters voting.
Warwick Lampp
It’s Waitomo’s best performance since the 2019 election when 35.08 per cent of voters had turned out by October 3. In 2019 23.47 per cent had turned out in Waitomo with a week to go, with 19.4 per cent at this stage in 2022.
Four candidates are contending for Waitomo’s mayoral chains.
Incumbent John Robertson is facing challenges from councillor Janette Osborne and council newcomers Richard Ross and Natasha Willison-Reardon.
Otorohanga District Council voters were a close second to Waitomo with 1799 votes or 28.3 per cent compared to Ōtorohanga’s total turnout of 44.05 per cent in 2022.
Deb Loomans voting at Ōtorohanga District Council
offices.
It’s Ōtorohanga’s best turnout over the same period, with 20.7 per cent turnout by October 3 in 2022. 27.6 per cent in 2019 and 17.36per cent in 2016.
A trio of incumbent councillors are vying for the mayoral chains after multi-term mayor Max Baxter decided to step back from local body politics.
Rodney Dow, Cathy Prendergast, and Jaimee Tamaki are all chasing the district’s top job.
Jo Barnett voting at Waitomo District Council offices.
Meanwhile, Waipā District Council is going begging for votes, despite a hotly contested mayoral race.
Susan O’Regan
Incumbent Susan O’Regan is facing challenges from councillors Mike Pettit and Clare St Pierre.
Voter turnout was only 21.35 per cent by October 3.
Lampp’s figures showed 8793 voters had turned out to vote with just a week to go.
Up until the latest figures were released, Waipā’s turnout had been steadily declining with a week to go.
Waipā voter turnout was 22.28 per cent by October 3 in 2016, 19.46 per cent by 2019 and 16.3 per cent by 2022.
Last election Waipā district’s total turnout at the election’s end was 36.24 per cent.
Lampp’s figures are considerably lower than the turnout achieved by its neighbouring councils.
Issues are similar across all districts, with the cost-of-living crisis biting and councils having to watch their spending.
Lampp said it was hard to compare turnouts to the same period last election thanks to a longer voting period and more orange bins collecting voting papers.
“Some up, some about the same,” he said. “Overall, my gut feel is that it will end up about the same in the end.”
