Two incumbent and two new councillors have secured the four seats up for grabs for the Dunstan constituency on the Otago Regional Council, with 85 percent of votes counted.

Michael Laws and Gary Kelliher are back for another term, alongside newcomers Matt Hollyer and Neil Gillespie.

Michael and Gary campaigned under the Vision Otago banner, along with unsuccessful Wānaka-based candidate Nicky Rhodes, promising to rein in council spending and reduce rates.

The group’s sway on the new council may be limited, with Dunedin’s Hilary Calvert the only other Vision Otago candidate elected.

While new to regional politics, Neil is a familiar name in local government, retiring at this election after 27 years at district level, sitting on the Cromwell Community Board, serving as a Cromwell ward councillor and acting as deputy mayor over that time.

Over the Crown Range in Queenstown, Matt works in conservation spaces after years in tourism management.

Meanwhile, another Queenstown local, Ben Farrell, was unsuccessful in his bid for a regional council seat, as was Maniototo-based community advocate Amie Pont.

Voting was carried out for the first time using the Single Transferable Vote (STV) system.

The Dunstan constituency had an additional seat this year following a representation review last year, which saw Dunedin lose a seat in favour of rapidly growing inland Otago.

Dunstan's councillors will be joined by Kevin Malcolm, for Moeraki constituency, Robbie Byars and Kate Wilson, for Molyneux constituency, and Hilary Calvert, Andrew Noone, Gretchen Robertson, Chanel Gardner, and Alan Somerville, for Dunedin constituency, at the council table - a mix of incumbent and first-time councillors.

Electoral officer for the Otago Regional Council Anthony Morton said the result was based upon the counting of approximately 85 percent of the returned voting papers.

"The progress result does not include some special votes and voting papers returned today that are still in transit to the processing centre. The outcome of these elections may change once all voting papers have been counted," he said.