Voting in election. Photo by Element5 Digital. Pexels.
Waipā District Council is going begging for votes for this Saturday’s local body election, despite a hotly contested mayoral race.
Cambridge’s Karen May voted on Monday, although she believes online voting would be easier. Photo: Chris Gardner
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, according to figures provided by chief returning officer Warwick Lampp.
Warwick Lampp
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.
Cambridge voter Karen May voted in the town on Monday. Her voting papers sat on the table for a couple of weeks ready to post.
“I had to really think about how I was going to get it here,” she said.
Younger voters would better engage with online voting, she said.
Te Awamutu’s Kaia Hayward said it was easy to hand your voting papers in around town, including the Te Awamutu Events Centre.
Peter Carr
The News’ On the Hustings columnist Peter Carr asked whether the Waipā electorates wanted a well-led council or a totally dysfunctional headless jelly.
“Voting is your absolute right but there are plenty of people who do not vote yet are prepared to complain,” Carr said.
“Sorry folks – this is ‘put up or shut up’ time. The people who are prepared to serve you to the best of their ability deserve much better than mediocrity in voting terms. This is your council which should be supported and cherished by your vote.”
Lampp’s figures are considerably lower than the turnout achieved by its neighbouring councils.
Further south, Waitomo District Council voters are leading the charge with the highest turnout of the local authorities in Good Local Media’s readership.
Turnout was 28.88 per cent by October 3, accounting for 1728 voters, compared to a 43.07 total turnout for the 2022 local body elections.
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.
Cambridge News 9 October 2025
Incumbent John Robertson is facing challenges from councillor Janette Osborne and council newcomers Richard Ross and Natasha Willison-Reardon.
Ōtorohanga 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.
It’s Ōtorohanga’s best turnout yet, 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 vying for the district’s top job.
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.”
“Just vote”, says Te Awamutu’s Kaia Hayward. Photo: Jesse Wood
