An apparently inexorable downward trend in voting returns in Dunedin was reversed in Saturday's local government election, but the increase was not as high as expected last week.
Final figures for Dunedin show 52.49% of eligible voters took part, better than the 47.47% last election but not as high as the 54.66% in 2004.
The increase is the first since a steady decline began more than a decade ago.
In Dunedin, final returns were 65.4% in 1998, 56% in 2001, 54.7% in 2004 and 47.4% in 2007, while nationally, only 44% voted in 2007.
By last Wednesday, the daily count in Dunedin began to top the figures from the 2004 election, and by Friday, they stood at 49.3%, compared with 45.6% in 2004.
But where the final day of voting in 2004 increased the percentage by 9%, the last day's increase this year was just over 3%.
Dunedin electoral officer Pam Jordan said she was unsure why that was, but it seemed people had listened to warnings postal votes had to be sent by Wednesday.
From the electoral booth at the Dunedin Civic Centre, where late votes could be delivered by hand until noon on Saturday, 1065 were flown to Christchurch on the last day of voting.
Nationally, nearly 50% of eligible residents voted.
