Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern supports exploring options to increase turnout in local elections, amid concerns around voter participation, but wouldn't be drawn on handing control of the process to the Electoral Commission.
Under the current system, local councils run the elections for their area, with the Electoral Commission's role limited to enrolment.
"I have concerns any time people aren't using the democratic right that they have to use their voice and choose who represents them.
"We always do a bit of reflection across local government elections in the same way we do general elections," she told Breakfast this morning. "I think this is the time for Local Government New Zealand to sit down and just have that conversation around the way that people vote for local elections."
When pressed on the Government's reluctance to support the Electoral Commission taking over, Ardern said she was "really cautious here about sweeping in and making these calls without making sure that we're having those discussions together".
"I think it's fair to say it's in everyone's interest to get as many people participating as possible, so let's look at the barriers to that and the best ways we can encourage it - but we need to do it with local government, these aren't just decisions that should be taken by central government politicians alone.
"I do think now's the time for us to go back to the conversations generally."
The Prime Minister added that people weren't using the postal service in the way they used to, and said there had been discussions about whether local voting could be done online in a secure way.
Victoria University's Mona Krewel explained the reasons behind this year's "unusual election".
"I'm very open-minded on this, for me it's all about just increasing peoples' participation - but let's do that with local government."
It comes after Warwick Lampp of private company Electionz.com, which run dozens of council elections each cycle under a decentralised system, told Q+A yesterday that he believes there is a place for some centralisation of the rules and processes.
"It is an option for it to be run centrally, and it's a very good question," he said. "I think the country's changed, the way we do things have changed, and the way the election process has been set up is very complex, and it isn't as easy as it used to be."
But for this year's edition, with voting closing at midday on Saturday, Ardern said: "Can I just encourage everyone to get those ballots in the post or, if you haven't received them, get down and conduct an in-person vote."
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