VOTERS SEEK HELP FROM POSTIES

Frustrated voters unable to find a NZ Post box were asking posties to take their voting papers during the recent local body election.

A lack of post boxes is just one of many reasons being given for low voter-turnout.

Local Government Minister Nanaia Mahuta says it is an issue that concerns her and she agrees with Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern that postal should not be the only option for voting.

The reduction in postal services was making postal voting increasingly difficult, she said. ‘‘I am looking to work with Local Government New Zealand and NZ Post about what can be done to improve this situation.’’

The system needed reviewing and one option would be to get the Electoral Commission involved, she said.

Postal Workers Union of Aotearoa national president John Maynard said finding a post box was a major issue for voters in 2016 and would have got worse during the recent local body election.

Last year, the union made a submission to the Justice and Electoral Select Committee arguing the removal of postal boxes had compromised the 2016 election.

‘‘We believe it was an undermining of the democratic process that road-side post boxes were removed before, after, and even during the postal ballot.’’

In the five years before the 2016 election, 1500 road-side boxes were removed, making it harder for a significant section of the population to vote. It was not uncommon for people to ask posties to take their voting papers when they couldn’t find a box, he said.

NZ Post general manager for mail Matt

‘‘We have been saying for some time that the current system is really shaky and it has got worse every election.’’

Dave Cull

Local Government NZ

Geor denied any widespread problems with voting papers or that the reduced number of post boxes made it harder for people to vote.

There were numerous reasons for voter apathy and it was unfair to put the blame on NZ Post if people did not make the effort, Geor said. The company had tracked voter turnout and there was ‘‘no correlation’’ between areas where boxes had been removed and low turnout.

Earlier this week, the two firms running most of the local body elections said that problems with NZ Post had had an impact on the way people voted.

Electionz.com chief returning officer Warwick Lampp described the delivery of voting papers as ‘‘patchy’’ with many voters had receiving their papers late.

Local Government New Zealand President Dave Cull said the postal system was not working. ‘‘We have been saying for some time that the current system is really shaky and it has got worse every election.’’

It was unrealistic to expect a company that was experiencing a downturn in mail delivery to have to ‘‘ramp up’’ its services every three years to meet the one-off demand for an election.