Time is running out for people who need to enrol to vote in the Geraldine ward by-election.

Registrar of electors for the Waitaki electorate Carol Johnston said it was important for people to update their details before the September 20 closing date.

"Only those people who are correctly enrolled by the time the electoral roll has closed will get voting papers in the mail to vote in the Geraldine ward by-election." Mrs Johnston said 4069 electors were enrolled but many more still had to enrol or update their details.

It was difficult to know how many people had not enrolled because there had been no recent census because of the Christchurch earthquakes, she said.

Mrs Johnston is also appealing for people on the unpublished roll to contact electoral officer Mark Low at the Timaru District Council for details on how to apply to cast a special vote.

The council held a meeting last week at which the early vote to reverse the ward system was itself reversed.

A public meeting arranged by the Geraldine Community Board was held in Geraldine on Tuesday night, attracting 60 residents, many of whom support retaining the ward.

Although the early vote was reversed, residents wanting to retain a ward-based district council were told they still needed to make submissions if they wanted to safeguard their ward.

- © Fairfax NZ News

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