The Government has decided not proceed with an online-voting trial for this year’s local body elections.
The government pulled the pin on the trial, saying it could not be confident the systems were secure enough.
Software for six of the council voting trials was provided by Electionz.com.
They are currently running about 150 elections a year using their online voting system for private sector clients.
Labour’s local government spokesperson, Meka Whaitiri, said it was not only a disappointment for the councils involved, but also for democracy.
Ms Whaitiri said it meant that it would be the same-old, same-old for this year’s elections.
“Which is probably a poor voter turnout, probably not as diverse as many of us would like to see at local government levels in terms of Māori, women, migrants and young people.”
Local Government NZ vice-president Brendan Duffy said he expected the trial would be ready to go for the following round of local body elections.
