Final results for the Dunedin City Council election are expected tomorrow.
Results released to date are preliminary and include all ordinary votes cast in the election — final results include special votes.
In a statement, electoral officer Anthony Morton said more than 1700 special votes were cast in the Dunedin election.
"Each one has to be manually verified as a valid vote prior to being processed," Mr Morton said.
On average, in any given election, up to 20% of special votes might be found to be invalid, he said.
Special votes are declared invalid if a person is not eligible to vote, has not enrolled to vote or has already cast an ordinary vote.
If there were any changes to the preliminary election results released on Monday, the people affected would be contacted before the final results were made public, Mr Morton said.
Final results will be posted on the council’s website.
Dunedin’s election contractor electionz.com reports the city’s voter turnout was 44.49%, compared to 48.22%, 45.60% and 45.17% in 2022, 2019 and 2016 respectively. — Allied Media
