Some mayoral hopefuls could be waiting a while yet to pop the bubbly, with single-digit margins in some areas and special votes still to be counted in local elections across the country.
Voting closed at midday on Saturday with more than 1500 roles to be filled across 78 city, district, and regional councils nationwide.
While progress results were released on Saturday and preliminary results were available from Sunday, final results would be available on Thursday and Friday.
Local Government NZ interim chief executive Scott Necklen said early figures showed voter turnout was down from 2022, sitting at just 32.65%.
Westland: Just four votes separate frontrunners
The closest election in the country was the Westland District Council mayoral race.
Preliminary results show Hokitika businesswoman Jacquie Grant leads the race by just four votes over incumbent Helen Lash.
Grant received 1568 votes, compared to Lash with 1564.
If elected, 82-year-old Grant would become the country's oldest sitting mayor, and New Zealand's second openly transgender mayor after Georgina Beyer.
Grant said in a post to Facebook the election was "not a done deal" and was a "waiting game" for now.
Lash told The Press she was nervous about the result.
"I’m not going to say I’m quietly optimistic because I don’t want to do that to myself. I’m worried, really worried."
Three-horse race too close to call in Kaipara
Kaipara is another district where the mayoral race remains on a knife's edge, with the race coming down to a handful of ballots in a three-horse race for the mayoralty.
Deputy mayor Jonathan Larsen, iwi leader Snow Tane, and former Kaipara mayor Jason Smith are locked in a tight race.
Progress results released on Saturday had the three separated by just 74 votes, but preliminary results tightened the gap between the top-three even further to 31.
Larsen and Tane are just five votes apart, on 3070 and 3065 respectively, while Smith was in striking distance on 3039.
While the race was a nail-biter, Tane told the Herald he was "quietly confident" of a win.
"It's still anyone's game," he said.
Larsen, endorsed by outgoing mayor Craig Jepson—who dubbed himself the “Trump of the North” and is now vying for a council seat—said all candidates could do was wait for Friday’s final count.
Smith declined to comment to the Herald on the race itself but praised Kaipara’s high voter turnout.
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