Ele Ludemann: Local democracy is broken

The headline says local election votes significantly up from 2022:

Voting numbers so far for this month’s local body elections are significantly higher than what they were in the lead up to the last elections.

Figures as at 1 October 2025 – 10 days before election day – showed that 622,936 votes had been returned to date, representing just over 18 percent of eligible votes.

Comparatively, 10 days before the 2022 local elections, 353,005 votes were returned, representing just over 10 percent of eligible votes.

“Based on the figures, this year’s local elections have the potential to better the 40 percent voter turnout in 2022,” said Local Government New Zealand (LGNZ) interim chief executive Scott Necklen. . .

This year’s figures might be a significant improvement on three years ago but hoping to better the last election’s 40% turn out is a very low bar.

Voting closes on Saturday and voting papers had to be posted by yesterday to ensure they will be counted unless they are handed in at nee of the places where they are being collected.

But even if the return doubles, that still wouldn’t get it up to 50% and that is abysmal.

What local authorities do, and don’t do, from the basics of looking after roading, rubbish and water to parks, gardens and sports facilities, has a huge impact on our day to day lives.

Their activities also come at a high cost to businesses and households. Steep increases in rates are a big contributor to inflation.

Something that has such a big impact on us ought to get more of our attention and engagement. Voting is part of that and too few of us are doing it.

There are several reasons for the poor voter response.

Postal voting isn’t working. The time between papers arriving and the deadline for returning makes it too easy to put the papers away until it’s too late. Those of us on rural delivery can post our votes from our own mail boxes but people in towns and cities have to find post boxes which isn’t always easy.

Less attention in the media makes it harder to know about the candidates and issues.

Local body meetings used to be well covered by daily papers. Coverage is less now and fewer people get papers.

My local district council meetings are videoed but how many people have the time, and inclination, to watch?

Voting papers come with a photo of every candidate and a 150 word blurb, but that’s not enough on which to base a considered vote.

As a result too many of us don’t know enough about the people, their policies, and the issues to make an informed vote and too many of us don’t bother to vote.

Democracy requires participation and there is no longer enough of it. When it comes to participation, local government democracy is broken, but how do we fix it?

The diagnosis is easy, the treatment and cure are not.

Amalgamating councils is often touted as a solution. But voter returns in smaller districts are usually higher than those in bigger cities, which indicates that bigger almost certainly won’t be better.

Ele Ludemann is a North Otago farmer and journalist, who blogs HERE - where this article was sourced.