A review is to be carried out into how the police and crime commissioners (PCC) elections were conducted, the Electoral Commission has said.
Fewer than 15% of voters turned out in the 41 English and Welsh police areas electing a PCC, a peacetime low.
Ministers said a lack of familiarity and understanding of the role might have been behind the low turnout.
The Conservatives won 16 posts and Labour 13. Twelve went to independents, including some ex-police officers.
The commissioners will be in post until 2016 and will have the power to set policing priorities, budgets and also to hire and fire chief constables.
Prime Minister David Cameron denied the low-number of voters meant the PCC role lacked a popular mandate.
He instead predicted that public interest would rise once the commissioners began their work.
'Bad for taxpayers'The government has been accused by critics of not providing the public with enough information about the new role and the candidates, as a decision was made not to provide funding for mailshots.
Staffordshire: 11.6%
West Midlands: 12%
Merseyside: 12.4%
Essex: 12.8%
Thames Valley: 12.9%
In addition, some said holding the poll in November also affected turnout.
Ann Barnes, the new PCC for Kent - where there was a turnout of 16% - said the election had been run "disgracefully", with "anger" among the electorate because they did not know who was standing.
But despite the low turnout she maintained she "got quite a big mandate in Kent because we won very comprehensively here in the county".
"I don't feel limited at all because most of the people who voted for me actually decided they wanted me as their commissioner and they gave me the mandate to be their commissioner," she told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.
She said her position as an independent candidate had been "absolutely critical" to her success.
"There seemed to be a bit of a backlash here in Kent and, I'm sure that's the same across the country, a distrust for politicians."
'Sheer complexity'Sir Hugh Orde, head of the Association of Chief Police Officers, told Today: "The individuals have been properly selected in a democratic process and the issue of numbers is absolutely not one for chief constables."
He said some PCCs had "police experience and others will bring other things to the party".
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Julia Mulligan, N Yorks PCC: "This role is about bringing together people"
"There is a huge spectrum of people who have been selected ranging from a number who have worked on the police authority to a number of retired police officers," he added.
He said chief constables should concentrate on bringing the PCCs "up to speed on the sheer complexity of the world in which we operate very quickly".
Jenny Watson, Electoral Commission chairwoman, said the low turnout was "a concern for everyone who cares about democracy".
She added: "These were new elections taking place at an unfamiliar time of year, which is why we have made clear at every stage that it would be important to engage effectively with voters.
"The government took a number of decisions about how to run these elections that we did not agree with.
"But what is important now is that the right lessons are learnt: we will talk to voters, candidates and returning officers to understand what worked and what didn't."
The review board is likely to present its findings to Parliament early in the new year.
Continue reading the main storyShadow home secretary Yvette Cooper said spending up to £100 million on the elections had been "bad for policing, bad for democracy and bad for taxpayers".
Liberal Democrat president Tim Farron warned that commissioners would struggle to claim a mandate, as the low turn out meant some were elected by a small percentage of the total electorate.
But Universities Minister David Willetts said on Radio 4's Any Questions that turnout would improve over time, citing the inaugural London mayoral contest in 2000.
"The first election to the Mayor of London had a low turnout then it gradually grew as people realised the significance of the post," he said.
In other election developments:
- Devon and Cornwall was the final PCC area to declare in the early hours of Saturday morning. The seat was won by the Conservative candidate Tony Hogg with 35.24% of the final vote
- Labour's Andy Sawford is to replace Tory Louise Mensch as the MP for Corby in Northamptonshire. Mr Sawford became the first Labour candidate in 15 years to take a Conservative seat in a by-election. Mrs Mensch told the BBC she "was to blame" for her party's loss.
- Labour candidates were also triumphant in the two other by-elections on Thursday, holding the seats for the party. Lucy Powell won the Manchester Central seat and Stephen Doughty won in Cardiff South and Penarth
- Perhaps the most well-known PCC candidate - Lord Prescott - failed in his bid to be elected commissioner for Humberside. He was beaten by Tory Matthew Grove by 42,164 votes to 39,933
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