Three in four Auckland voters did not vote in the 2025 local elections. Let that sit for a moment. The national turnout was 40%, and Auckland’s was 29.3%, the lowest since the Auckland Council was established. Then, as if to underline just how badly the system is failing, the Manukau District Court voided the Papatoetoe subdivision result, finding “significant fragility in the postal voting system.” An election had to be run again because the system that was supposed to deliver it broke down.
So what does the Auckland Council propose to do about it? Give us a choice between postal voting and in‑person voting at the booth. And across the country, every other local authority faces the same question.
That is like being asked whether you would rather drown slowly or freeze to death.
Postal voting is dying on its feet. NZ Post has signalled it will double postage rates, pushing the estimated cost of running Auckland’s postal election in 2028 to $15.5 million – up from $10.5 million three years ago. The same pressure falls on every local authority in New Zealand. Fewer people use post boxes. Fewer people even know where to find one. And Auckland Council’s own report to local boards this month quietly acknowledges that none of this matters anyway, because “changing the voting method alone is unlikely to improve voter turnout.”
So much for postal voting.
Booth voting is no better. An IT‑supported booth election running over 10 days in Auckland alone would cost between $39 million and $55 million. Run postal and booth simultaneously, and you are looking at up to $69 million for one city. Scale that across 78 local authorities, and the numbers become absurd. And again, no evidence that participation improves.
Here is what frustrates me. The technology to do this differently already exists in New Zealand, and the people who run local elections are already using it elsewhere.
Right now, in 2026, WEL Energy Trust electors in the Waikato can vote online, by post, or in person at drop boxes. That election is managed by Election Services – the same company that administers Auckland’s local elections and works with local authorities across the country. Election Services has been operating for over 30 years. Their online voting platform is independently audited. This is not a concept being tested somewhere overseas. It is a working system delivering results this year.
Closer to home for Auckland, the Council’s own Business Improvement District programme now offers online voting as standard when businesses ballot to establish a BID. These are statutory polls conducted in accordance with Council policy. The majority of voters are choosing to vote online. Those elections are also run by Election Services. They already have the platform, already know the role, and are already delivering online voting on behalf of the Auckland Council. The Local Electoral Act is the only thing stopping them from doing the same for every local body election in the country.
So why can’t New Zealand’s voters do the same when it comes to electing their councils? Because the Local Electoral Act does not permit it. That is the only reason.
The Department of Internal Affairs says enabling online voting through legislation is “unlikely” in time for 2028. I find that hard to accept. In 2020, Parliament passed the COVID-19 Public Health Response Act in six days. That legislation was sweeping and complex, and it applied to the entire country. An amendment to the Local Electoral Act to add online voting as a permitted method is straightforward by comparison. A regulatory framework for an online voting trial was drafted back in 2019. It needs updating, not rebuilding from scratch.
The 2028 local elections are 27 months away. That is enough time if the Minister of Local Government decides to treat this as a priority rather than a problem for someone else’s term.
Local democracy across New Zealand is in trouble. A 40% national turnout is not a blip – it is a trend heading in one direction. Spending vastly more on a booth model that even its proponents admit will not fix participation is not a solution. It is an expensive way to avoid making a real decision.
The capability is here. The expertise is here. The case could not be clearer. What is missing is the political will to act on it.
The views expressed are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent those of the Franklin Local Board as a whole.
Gary Holmes is a local body politician and business association manager who made Waiuku his home and has never stopped asking questions about how it is governed. Elected to the Franklin Local Board in 2022 to represent the Waiuku subdivision, he has built a reputation as a fiscally conservative voice prepared to take on Auckland’s bureaucracy when the numbers don’t stack up. He believes good local government starts with reading the data yourself.
https://stevebaron.co.nz/author/garyholmes/