Auckland Council has voted to bring back in-person voting booths for the 2028 local elections, with councillors citing concerns about electoral integrity and public confidence in the voting system.
The Governing Body voted 13-3 on Tuesday in favour of using in-person voting, making Auckland the first New Zealand council to return to voting booths since 1992, Local Democracy Reporting (LDR) reported for 1News.
The decision follows allegations of vote rigging and ballot theft during the 2025 local elections involving the Ōtara-Papatoetoe and Manurewa local boards. Low voter turnout was also raised as a concern.
Cost was a major issue during the debate. Council staff estimated postal voting would cost about $16 million, while booth voting would cost $39 million for a 10- or 20-day election. Using both methods was estimated at $48.1 million, while a one-day booth election combined with postal voting could cost as much as $70 million, as reported by LDR for 1News.
Mayor Wayne Brown and deputy mayor Desley Simpson had recommended booth voting with a maximum cost of $20 million.
“This is the middle ground solution; there are people who want both booth voting, and there are other people who don’t want to waste too much money,” Brown said.
“And it is possible to have your cake and eat it here; it is possible we can do booth voting without a dramatic increase in costs,” LDR has quoted.
However, council staff warned that achieving the $20 million target would be difficult.
Chief executive Phil Wilson said the decision was primarily driven by concerns about the integrity of the voting system, rather than turnout.
“I don’t think you can presume that moving to booth voting’s necessarily in itself going to change or improve voter turnout,” Wilson said, as quoted by LDR.
He said postal voting costs were also expected to rise as the system became less common.
“But we understand that you’re trying to balance a concern about the integrity of the system with reasonable cost and the ability to deliver it.
“So I am very comfortable that if you agree, we will make best endeavours to do this at the lowest cost and take the $20m as an indicator,” LDR has quoted.
Franklin councillor Andy Baker opposed the move, citing the difficulties and expense of providing booth voting in rural areas. Rodney councillor Greg Sayers also voted against the proposal, predicting it could further affect voter participation in rural communities.
Albert-Eden-Puketāpapa councillor Julie Fairey, who supported the change, said electoral integrity justified the additional expense.
“The integrity added by the booth is worth even paying the higher sum that is in the paper. We’ve had a real challenge of integrity in the last election,” Fairey said, as quoted by LDR.
Manukau councillor Lotu Fuli said concerns about voting irregularities extended beyond South Auckland.
“We’ve been hearing about this sort of thing for decades; we’ve been hearing about the fragility of postal voting and votes being cast for others or stolen, or not turning up in people’s letter boxes,” as quoted by LDR.
Councillor Richard Hills also supported the return of voting booths.
“Cost is the cost, and I don’t think it is, you know, cost of living versus democracy,” Hills said.
“I don’t think the suffragists were out there going, ‘it’s pretty expensive out there, we’ll wait another few years before we sort out our voting system,” Aas quoted by LDR.
Simpson said the decision involved balancing integrity, cost and accessibility, noting that using a ballot method was estimated to cost only $4 million more than postal voting.
Earlier on Tuesday, councillors heard from Auckland's licensing trusts and the Ōtara-Papatoetoe Local Board about the proposed voting changes.
Ōtara-Papatoetoe chair Apulu Reece Autagavaia said confidence in postal voting had been damaged following the 2025 election.
“For Papatoetoe, that trust is gone,” Autagavaia said.
Complaints following the 2025 local elections led to a petition seeking a judicial inquiry into the Papatoetoe subdivision. A judge later found irregularities had materially affected the result and declared the election of the local board members void, resulting in a by-election.
Autagavaia said the existing voting system had failed residents.
“Some unknown persons took advantage of our people, already suffering under the worst cost of living crisis and decided to steal their democratic right to vote.
“Someone decided to vote for them and fraudulently speak on their behalf.”
He said Auckland needed a voting system capable of restoring public confidence in election results, LDR has quoted.
Council staff will report back in December on options for reducing the cost of in-person voting. Final funding requirements will be considered as part of Auckland Council's 2027-37 long-term plan process.