From this week, southern voters will have the chance to make their voices heard in local elections.
Voting papers will be sent out late this week and should be received by the following Wednesday.
They will be for local city and district councils, regional council and the Southern District Health Board elections.
The forms will be sent out to about 160,700 people in Otago and 67,328 in Southland.
Election day is October 12 on which voting closes at noon.
Dunedin deputy electoral officer Sharon Bodeker said voters would have to send forms back by mail early enough to be received by voting day.
Special voting would be set up in various districts for people to go in and vote by ballot if they did not receive a form, had damaged or lost it, or were not enrolled.
There would be a mixture of voting types on each form.
Although many councils used the first past the post system, some, including the Dunedin City Council and the health board, used the single transferable vote (STV) system.
For this, voters rank candidates who receive points based on their place in the order.
There is no online voting in either region.
Ms Bodeker said she was not aware of any major problems in the past over sending the forms via post but she had not been in the role at the last election.
Finalising results would differ depending on the district, but most would have a good idea by the end of election weekend.
- The Otago Daily Times will publish a guide to STV voting later this week.
