First past the post may be kept for Waitaki District Council elections, unless electors try to change it.
Since 2001, when the law was changed offering councils more choice in voting systems, the council has stuck with first past the post (FPP), because it believes it is easier for electors to understand.
The Waitaki council decided yesterday to retain FPP for the 2016 local body elections.
There will be a 90-day period allowing electors, if they wish, to gather sufficient signatures for a poll to be held on the voting system.
The threshhold is 5% of the total number of electors, about 15,500 in Waitaki.
Any poll must be held within 82 days for electors to vote on which system they want, which then has to be used for the next two elections - 2016 and 2019. The council estimates a poll would cost ratepayers about $30,000.
