Voting enrolment figures lag

Palmerston North residents are lagging behind other parts of New Zealand when it comes to enrolling to vote, but plans are afoot to fix the problem.

Electoral Commission statistics show 87.5 per cent of eligible voters are enrolled. But that figure drops to 83.1 per cent in Palmerston North.

The biggest disparity is in those aged 18 to 24, with 63.6 per cent enrolled nationwide, but only 53.3 per cent enrolled in Palmerston North.

Massey University Students’ Association president Nikita Skipper said young people on campus seemed ‘‘really disengaged’’ from politics.

‘‘There are students who are heavily involved, who go to events and ask questions, but they are the only ones there.

‘‘It’s all about getting those other people.’’

With the general election and student association elections both on this year, the association planned to use the especially engaged students to get their peers involved through a ‘‘pledge to vote’’ campaign, Skipper said.

‘‘They may be talking to flatmates and saying ‘I’m going to get three or four people to vote this year’.’’

Social media was a key tool and the association was planning to use polls and short videos to deliver easily digestible information, she said.

‘‘A lot of action often comes when people are not content, so we are wanting to stir the pot a bit and, hopefully, get people talking.’’

A big talking point had been the I Side With quiz, which helps people find out which political parties line up with their views on various topics.

‘‘A lot of people thought they would be 100 per cent National, but were paired more with Greens, Labour or ACT,’’ Skipper said.

‘‘People I have talked to have become so much more aware after doing the quiz.’’

Skipper said the Massey association planned to work with the New Zealand Union of Students’ Association, which is launching its enrolment campaign on Monday.

A spokeswoman from the Electoral Commission said they had only been able to get detailed information about enrolment differences between age groups since 2014.

‘‘Participation in elections has been falling over the past three decades for all age groups and figures from 2014 show voters in the 18-to-39 age groups have the lowest enrolment and turnout rates.’’

The sooner people started voting, the more likely they were to vote for the rest of their lives, she said.

‘‘It’s about getting people into the habit of voting.’’

Palmerston North’s enrolment statistics were affected by being a university city, as students who lived there might be enrolled in the electorates they came from, she said.

The commission was working on improving electoral engagement among young people through social media, she said.