It's a shockingly low number.
It's lower than previous elections. This is bad news for democracy and especially bad news for the Greens.
There's no excuse for this.
You can't blame the Electoral Commission. You can't blame the media either. They have fallen over themselves processing the Commission's press releases. It's one of the rare times modern journalism, which is little more than regurgitation of press releases, might have been actually trying to do the right thing.
It's not the change of date's fault. The Green's tried that "scam" on earlier.
There was, and is not, a scandal. Elections are regular events and you have three years notice. Election dates are announced at the start of the year, and you then have about 10 months.
If you can't enter a couple of simple details in that time that’s on you. We need to have individuals own more of their incompetence in this country. We look for excuses and on this, there is no excuse.
As for the rest of us it's 90%, which is about normal. We like democracy, as we should.
We also might like to actually vote. Last time it was 77%. That’s a big difference and, ironically, last time the percentage of young people who voted was also about 77%, which means a higher portion of those enrolled at that age turn up. So that’s a glass-half-full stat for you.
The tragedy here is young people don’t care, or too many don’t care.
Would civics help? Would more engaged parents help?
Would better discourse at a political level help?
Ironically it's not until you reach your 50's that the enrolment levels crack 80%. So as bad as 63% is for a 19-year-old, there are a lot of 29, 36 and 45-year-olds that aren't that much more engaged.
For a country that appears deeply affected by the economy and life generally, a country that tells surveyors how unhappy we are and how we can't afford anything, when the chance comes around to participate directly in doing something about that too many just can't be bothered.
Unreal aye?
Mike Hosking is a New Zealand television and radio broadcaster. He currently hosts The Mike Hosking Breakfast show on NewstalkZB on weekday mornings - where this article was sourced.
It's not the change of date's fault. The Green's tried that "scam" on earlier.
There was, and is not, a scandal. Elections are regular events and you have three years notice. Election dates are announced at the start of the year, and you then have about 10 months.
If you can't enter a couple of simple details in that time that’s on you. We need to have individuals own more of their incompetence in this country. We look for excuses and on this, there is no excuse.
As for the rest of us it's 90%, which is about normal. We like democracy, as we should.
We also might like to actually vote. Last time it was 77%. That’s a big difference and, ironically, last time the percentage of young people who voted was also about 77%, which means a higher portion of those enrolled at that age turn up. So that’s a glass-half-full stat for you.
The tragedy here is young people don’t care, or too many don’t care.
Would civics help? Would more engaged parents help?
Would better discourse at a political level help?
Ironically it's not until you reach your 50's that the enrolment levels crack 80%. So as bad as 63% is for a 19-year-old, there are a lot of 29, 36 and 45-year-olds that aren't that much more engaged.
For a country that appears deeply affected by the economy and life generally, a country that tells surveyors how unhappy we are and how we can't afford anything, when the chance comes around to participate directly in doing something about that too many just can't be bothered.
Unreal aye?
Mike Hosking is a New Zealand television and radio broadcaster. He currently hosts The Mike Hosking Breakfast show on NewstalkZB on weekday mornings - where this article was sourced.
2 comments:
And that’s the problem with polls. What you tell a pollster you would do, compared to what you can actually be bothered to do come election day are two different things.
Perhaps young people are to busy living a new and exciting life, all while being aware enough to doubt the bull talked by our so called leaders. They also have a very different idea of time, age and future. There are, of course, the political tragics at a young age. We all knew some, boring and pale. Letting life pass them by as they drink the cool aid of the snake oil salespeople.
Sadly, these very dour adolescents are the ones that are now having the last laugh, slowly taking control.
Post a Comment
Thank you for joining the discussion. Breaking Views welcomes respectful contributions that enrich the debate. Please ensure your comments are not defamatory, derogatory or disruptive. We appreciate your cooperation.