It's now or never – voters across Christchurch and Banks Peninsula have just a few days left to cast their votes in the local elections.

“By now, all enrolled voters will have received their voting papers in the post,” says Christchurch City Council Electoral Officer Warwick Lampp.

“If you haven't already, the next step is to return your voting document into an orange vote bin or post it back.

“If you want to mail it in, please make sure you post it in the supplied postage-paid envelope by 5pm on Tuesday 7 October to make sure we get them in time for them to count.”

Post your completed voting papers into any NZ Post or DX Mail postbox.

“Voting closes officially at noon on Saturday 11 October. You can put your completed papers into one of the orange vote bins we have stationed in places like libraries, customer service hubs, recreation and sport centres and supermarkets all across the district up until the close of voting.”

See the voting bin locations on our website.

Mr Lampp says that so far, 22.30% of eligible voters in the district have returned their papers to vote for the Mayor, councillors, community board members and Environment Canterbury councillors who will represent them for the next three years. In 2022, the final turnout was 43.31%.

“It would be great to see turnout increase year on year. Local elections always seem to attract less interest than general ones, but because local government touches on so many parts of your everyday life, we can't stress enough the importance of having your say in how your city is run.”

People can find information about the candidates standing in their area in the candidate booklet that came with their voting papers, and on the Council website.

Mr Lampp says people who have not received voting papers, or have lost or damaged their voting papers, can still take part in the election. They will need to visit one of the 12 Council customer service hubs around the city, email elections@ccc.govt.nz or phone 03 941 8581 to have a special vote issued.

The progress results of the local body elections will be available on the afternoon of election day, Saturday 11 October.