Page 10 – Policy Quarterly – Volume 12, Issue 4 – November 2016 Christine Cheyne E-voting Eventually? Online voting in (local) elections The cancellation of the online voting trial came as a disappointment to many in the local government sector, especially the councils that were keen to participate. The minister appeared very equivocal about the future of online voting, stating in her media release: online voting could be trialled at future elections but there is still much to learn about online voting, and issues with online voting overseas have stressed the importance of getting it right and maintaining public confidence. The Government is open to looking at proposals for future trials of online voting in local elections but any plans for trials should be developed as part of a programme of gradual steps towards online voting in local elections. (Upston, 2016) Christine Cheyne is an Associate Professor in the School of People, Environment and Planning at Massey University. Introduction In April 2016 New Zealand’s long-awaited online 1 voting trial for local elections was again cancelled, or postponed indefinitely. Despite its advocacy of e-government, central government in New Zealand has continued to stall over trialling online voting. The trial of online voting was strongly supported by local government and has long been recommended by a Parliamentary select committee. However, three months before nominations opened for the October 2016 elections, the associate local government minister, Louise Upston, called off the online voting trial proposed for the elections, citing concerns about security and vote integrity.