Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern wants some voting to be online for the 2022 local body election as turnout around the country fades. In the country's biggest local election, voting returns for Auckland Council have reached just 17 per cent, lagging behind 2016s turnout at this same stage, and in Wellington voting is also slower. Local body elections are conducted using postal voting, with the postal system gradually declining and deliveries no longer daily in urban areas. "We need to see at least the beginning of online voting in my view, and I have held that view for some time," Ardern told Stuff in an interview. Ardern said people needed to be assured that online voting was both accessible, but also secure, and acknowledged postal voting had weaknesses.

Source: Stuff October 07, 2019 21:33 UTC