Because, this year, voter turnout around the country was the lowest it’s been in 36 years. Which is pitiful.
So pitiful that I don’t even think my idea of having just one main voting day - like we have for central government elections - would make much of a difference.
In fact, I think there’s only one way to fix it. Something which has already been tried somewhere else with immediate results.
Because something needs to be done. Because local councils matter.
They have far more influence on our daily lives than central government ever will.
Our councils are responsible for the roads we drive on everyday. They’re responsible for getting the rubbish collected and getting water services to our houses and making sure the sewers work properly. They run our libraries. All sorts of things that we use and rely on every day.
Our councils are the majority owners of key infrastructure services. Christchurch City Council, for example, has the airport, the Port at Lyttelton, the Orion electricity lines company and others.
Not worth taking an interest in who is leading these outfits? Or having an influence in who is leading these outfits? Sixty-eight percent of us don’t think so.
Talk about apathy.
Andrew Geddis - who is a political scientist at the University of Otago - reckons that one of the main reasons for the low turnout is that the voting period is just way too long.
And people just forget about the voting papers sitting on the kitchen bench. He also points out the benefit of having one main voting day - like we do in the central government elections.
I used to think the same.
But I see only one solution. Which is something people talk about in relation to central government elections. But I think we need it for local government too.
Compulsory voting.
Because, after this pitiful turnout in this year’s elections, we need a kick up the jacksy - and making it compulsory to vote is the only way to achieve that.
In Australia, compulsory voting in federal elections was introduced in 1924 and, since then, voter turnout has never fallen below 90 percent.
More relevant, though, is what they’ve done in Tasmania. Three years ago, Tasmania made voting in local government elections compulsory, as well. And just like compulsory voting in federal elections sorted out the low participation problem, the same thing happened in Tasmania with their local body elections.
In just one election, voter turnout increased by 44.6 percent.
Councils in Tasmania have four-year terms - so the 2022 turnout is the most recent example.
But it shows you, doesn‘t it, how compulsory voting in local body elections works. And how it could work just as well here.
John MacDonald is the Canterbury Mornings host on Newstalk ZB Christchurch. This article was first published HERE
In fact, I think there’s only one way to fix it. Something which has already been tried somewhere else with immediate results.
Because something needs to be done. Because local councils matter.
They have far more influence on our daily lives than central government ever will.
Our councils are responsible for the roads we drive on everyday. They’re responsible for getting the rubbish collected and getting water services to our houses and making sure the sewers work properly. They run our libraries. All sorts of things that we use and rely on every day.
Our councils are the majority owners of key infrastructure services. Christchurch City Council, for example, has the airport, the Port at Lyttelton, the Orion electricity lines company and others.
Not worth taking an interest in who is leading these outfits? Or having an influence in who is leading these outfits? Sixty-eight percent of us don’t think so.
Talk about apathy.
Andrew Geddis - who is a political scientist at the University of Otago - reckons that one of the main reasons for the low turnout is that the voting period is just way too long.
And people just forget about the voting papers sitting on the kitchen bench. He also points out the benefit of having one main voting day - like we do in the central government elections.
I used to think the same.
But I see only one solution. Which is something people talk about in relation to central government elections. But I think we need it for local government too.
Compulsory voting.
Because, after this pitiful turnout in this year’s elections, we need a kick up the jacksy - and making it compulsory to vote is the only way to achieve that.
In Australia, compulsory voting in federal elections was introduced in 1924 and, since then, voter turnout has never fallen below 90 percent.
More relevant, though, is what they’ve done in Tasmania. Three years ago, Tasmania made voting in local government elections compulsory, as well. And just like compulsory voting in federal elections sorted out the low participation problem, the same thing happened in Tasmania with their local body elections.
In just one election, voter turnout increased by 44.6 percent.
Councils in Tasmania have four-year terms - so the 2022 turnout is the most recent example.
But it shows you, doesn‘t it, how compulsory voting in local body elections works. And how it could work just as well here.
John MacDonald is the Canterbury Mornings host on Newstalk ZB Christchurch. This article was first published HERE
15 comments:
What absolute nonsense. What we need is people and ideas worth voting for.
Compulsory voting? No way! Freedom is a key fundamental of democracy. That includes the freedom to abstain.
There is too much of a casual random element now. Candidates with catchy publicity campaigns will triumph. The only virtue is that very coordinated blocks, as insurrection maori, will be swamped to some extent.There has to be more and balanced publicity of Council activity. Something like the PIJF but with totally revised rules possibly appropriate. Sadly, even if somehow recompensed, the current msm is far too partisan to use, Ditto Council staff. Paper distribution, ideal for consideration, now seems impractical. Apart from much else, employment of delivery persons now seems fraught. Over the years I was intrigued by the mountains of dumped papers often observed.
If voting was a civic duty rather than privilege, that would provide the justification for making voting compulsory.
You need not actually vote for anyone - there should be a 'no confidence in any of them' box that you can tick as your 'vote'.
Often thought that people who vote should have to pass a basic test to prove that they have at least some knowledge of what or who they are voting for!
Absolute rubbish John, wake up, the council model is broken. Voting only gives this sad relic credibility. Look at the talentless candidates that waste our rates. Don’t you realise that the elections don’t change anything. .
If voting could change anything they’d never let us do it.
I'm with you. People who don't vote are no sort of intellectual freedom fighter - they are vacuous noddies!
I have been very busy this last month but reluctantly read through all the information on the candidates. However I did find it all rather tedious and wondered if instead of all the reading we could be given bullet points instead.
i suspect the coordinated maori insurrection moveement encouraged considerabke voting, even where wards not involved. In my area the elected (European) councillor a champion of the luxury of local baths (despite available 2 to 4 km away), with her children at a bilingual school, beat an engineer who professed dedicationn to core services.
The day that voting is made compulsory is the day that I will stop voting. And yes, I did vote in the election just gone.
If you choose not to vote you lose the right to criticise. The proper thing to do is hand in a voting paper, with all options crossed out, then it becomes a protest vote of no confidence
Here in Lower Hutt the vote went to Retain simply because Maori had a reason to vote whereas the mass of voters were not interested. The result is skewed and hardly an accurate
representation of local preference. We get what we deserve.
Hi John
I'd go one step further and fine those who don't vote. New Zealand for too long has had an apathetic attitude as you describe, and are scared to speak up. This is why the country is in the state it is because of what Labor got away with during the Covid Years. What we need is a spine as a country, otherwise many more New Zealanders will leave these shores for Australia, and one thing Aussies aren't afraid of is sharing their opinions. Just remember ...voting is compulsory in Australia too!
The Census is compulsory in New Zealand. How's that going?
AI Overview
In the most recent Census (2023), Stats NZ did not prosecute individuals for non-compliance, as an error was found in the process. The last time prosecutions occurred for refusal was during the 2018 Census, when about 700,000 people failed to complete the census, with around 10,196 being hard refusals and roughly 60 facing prosecution.
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