As voting papers for the Local Elections have begun arriving in letterboxes, local faces are once again fronting a campaign in the Ashburton district encouraging people to vote.

Six people, a mix of ages and backgrounds, agreed to take part in the local democracy campaign and they will appear on posters, advertising and social media during the voting stage.

Chief Executive Hamish Riach said it was good to see locals helping to get the message out.

“How better to encourage people to vote, than to highlight our own people. None of them are standing for a position, but they are keen to lend their support to the important message about voting and democracy.”

Mid Canterbury voters will elect a mayor, nine district councillors, six Braided Rivers Community Trust members and two Environment Canterbury representatives.

There is no election needed for the Eastern Ward and for the Methven Community Board, where nominations matched the seats available.

Mr Riach said residents could fill out their voting papers and return them by post, or drop them into one of the six orange ballot bins around the district.

“If you’re returning your papers by post, then do that by Tuesday 7 October, so they reach voting headquarters in time to be counted. Otherwise drop them into one of our orange election bins right up until 12pm on Saturday 11 October.

“If you’re not sure who to vote for then there are plenty of resources on the voteashburton.nz page to help. There are candidate profiles, and videos, and a link to the meet-the-candidate evening in Ashburton at the end of August.”

The orange voting bins are at the Ashburton Library, Ashburton District Council, EA Networks Centre, FreshChoice Tinwald, Rakaia Mobil and Four Square Methven.

If you have not yet enrolled to vote, you can still do so and cast a special vote. You can find out about special votes at voteashburton.nz, or visit Customer Services at Te Whare Whakatere any time during business hours.