The voting paper comprises four pages with the Mayor and City Council issues on the first page. The middle pages have the 75 candidates for the Canterbury District Health Board issue and on page four will be the Canterbury Regional Council (Environment Canterbury) and Community Board issues.

A few candidates have not supplied photographs or profile statements and where this occurred it is noted in the booklet.

The Electoral Officer, Max Robertson, said voters were encouraged to return their papers in the mail as soon as possible.

Once the voting papers are received electors’ bar codes, shown through the window of the return envelopes, are scanned so that the names of the electors are marked off the roll to prevent duplicate voting.

After that the envelopes are opened and the votes are recorded by scanning the bar codes that are printed beside the names of those candidates who have received votes.

No votes are totalled at this stage.

Two firsts will be seen in this election. One is that the postal voting period is extended from two weeks to three weeks and the other first is that the electronic recording of votes will be completed as papers are returned throughout the three-week voting period.

• Electors should receive their voting papers by Wednesday 26 September
• Each ward election is for a mayor, two city councillors, three community board members, two regional councillors, and five District Health Board members
• Voting papers must be returned by post by noon on Saturday 13 October but electors are encouraged to post them as early as possible
• Special voting facilities will be available on the ground floor of the Civic Offices, 163 Tuam Street, from Friday 21 September to Saturday 13 October between 8.30am and 5pm Monday to Friday and 9am-noon on 13 October

Electors who have lost, spoilt or destroyed their ordinary voting papers that they received by post may claim special votes. People who have applied to be enrolled but who have not received their voting papers in the post may also claim special votes.