From the Editor: Does the voting process need to change?

With local body election results confirmed across the country, is it time to think about what our next local voting will look like?

On Monday, October 20, I was contacted by Tuakau-Pokeno ward candidate Stephanie Henderson, who spotted an uncollected voting box at Woolworths Pokeno on Sunday evening.

“Someone had mentioned it to me that they thought it hadn’t been collected … and I couldn’t believe what I was seeing.”

She said she and another candidate then reported the uncollected box to both mayoral candidates, council staff, and the returning officer.

When contacted by Franklin Times, a Waikato District Council spokesperson said an electoral official cleared the voting box at Woolworths Pokeno at midday on Saturday, October 11, and sealed the slot to prevent any further votes from being deposited.

“This is standard practice on Election Day, as the priority is to get votes to the processing centre as soon as possible after midday. The box itself was scheduled for removal at a later time.”

They said any voting papers in the box after the midday cut-off were recorded but not counted towards the official election results. The vote box was removed from Woolworths Pokeno on Monday, October 20, with two votes inside, the spokesperson confirmed.

Henderson said no matter the number of votes left inside, uncollected ballot boxes undermined trust in the process.

“Personally, I think we are past the days of postal voting anyway. I think we need to go to polling booths for local elections … I’m not a fan of electronic voting because that can be hacked.”

So what do you think? Is this just a blip in the system that works well overall? Or is it time to take a closer look at how we cast our votes ahead of the next local body elections in 2028?