3345 days ago

Northpower Electric Power Trust (NEPT) online voting

Oliver Neighbourly Lead from One Tree Point

In our recent Neighbourly discussions of the local elections I was one of the people in favour of introducing online voting. So I was quite surprised when I received my voting papers for the NEPT election and discovered that online voting was an available option. Great - I did my research, made up my mind who to vote for, and went online.
Well, it's probably a good example of how NOT to implement online voting :-(
The welcome page was nice enough, but the ballot page itself looked very crude and basic, as if the so-called style sheet, which defines the styles and visual elements of a web page, was broken or missing. But it was a secure website, so I ticked my boxes and sent it off ... and didn't get any kind of feedback if my vote had been received. Hmmm. So I decided to click on the link for the feedback page and wrote up all my issues and complaints and clicked on the send button ... only to receive a timeout after a minute or so. Well, it happens sometimes, so I tried again ... another timeout. I gave up.
I had written in my earlier posts that online voting needed to be done professionally and securely, to be acceptable. The NEPT voting website felt like shoddy work, done in a hurry and not tested properly. I'm pretty sure that my vote wasn't lost, at least as sure as if I had sent it in by mail, but a professional design, with a ballot page identical or at least very similar to the printed version, and a confirmation that the vote was received, plus a working feedback page is the minimum we voters should be able to expect.
Has anybody else voted online and had similar or different (better or worse) experiences?

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The Summer Kiwi Quiz is back by popular demand

Summer Kiwi Quiz - 2026

Grab a copy of your local Stuff newspaper between 1 Jan - 28 Jan and participate in the Summer Kiwi Quiz! Test your knowledge, answer the daily New Zealand based questions, and find out how well you know our beautiful country!

Each correct answer will get you one entry into the draw to WIN 1 of 5 Ooni Karu 2 Portable Pizza Oven bundles, valued at $1024! Each bundle includes: an Ooni Karu 2 Multi-Fuel Portable Pizza Oven, Ooni Karu 2 Carry Cover, Ooni 12" Perforated Peel, Ooni Digital Infrared Thermometer and an Ooni Cookbook: Cooking with Ooni. The more answers you enter correctly, the higher your chance of winning. For more information and to submit your answers, click here

The Team at Stuff
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The Team from Neighbourly.co.nz

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We’re curious ... how do you welcome it?
Do you set resolutions, follow special traditions, or just go with the flow?

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Do you set New Year’s resolutions?
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    10.4% Complete
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The Team from Neighbourly.co.nz

The Ministry of Social Development is reporting that fake information is circulating about new ‘December bonuses’ or ‘benefit increases’

If you get suspicious communication, please contact Netsafe.

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