63,000 graduates sent voting papers

They may be many thousands of kilometres away from Dunedin, but University of Otago graduates from all over the world are being invited to elect three members to the university's governing council.

Almost 63,000 voting papers had been posted out for this year's election, returning officer and university registrar Jan Flood said yesterday.

The university council has up to 20 members, of whom three are elected by the Court of Convocation.

A convocation is a group of people formally assembled for a special purpose, and the sole task of the university's Court of Convocation is to elect representatives every four years.

All graduates are members of the court. Until 1998, others with a connection to the university such as staff members could also apply to join the court's voting register and some of those people were still eligible to vote, Ms Flood said.

Four people are seeking council seats this year. The three sitting members, freelance television producer Lorraine Isaacs, of Dunedin, retired Judge Oke Blaikie, of Nelson, and investment banker Michael Sidey, of Christchurch, are being challenged by senior investment adviser Peter McIntyre, of Dunedin.

Voting papers had been posted to 62,877 people for whom the university had a current mailing addresses, Ms Flood said. About 10% of papers were usually returned.

The papers were sent out with the latest edition of the University of Otago magazine so no additional posting costs were incurred, she said. However, reply-paid envelopes were included with the voting papers so there was a cost for votes received.

This cost depended on the number of voting papers returned and the split of papers received from New Zealand and overseas, she said. About $20,000 was budgeted this year for printing voting papers and envelopes.

Voting closes at noon on December 3. The results would probably be announced on December 6, Ms Flood said.

- allison.rudd@odt.co.nz