Wanganui district councillors have agreed to try and be among local authorities trialling online voting next year but not without expressing concerns about the cost involved. The Government wants to trial online voting as an option in the 2016 local body elections and councils wanting to be the guinea pigs have been asked to indicate their interest. Noeline Moosman, the Wanganui electoral officer, said the council had platforms in place to handle the online voting. And she said the district’s high voter turnout could be another plus.
Ms Moosman said the electronic voting process would not replace postal voting yet. Voting packs would still go out and voters would have the choice of using them or voting via a computer.
But the council could be up for a $75,000 bill to trial the system. Ms Moosman said that in 2013 the elections cost $134,000 to run but that included handling the voting for the Whanganui District Health Board and a portion of Horizons Regional Council.
Full Article: Online voting cost alarms councillors – Wanganui Chronicle – Wanganui Chronicle News.