Hulse: Mt Albert vote lost chance to go digital

Councillor says move online being held back partly though fear of mobilising disgruntled younger voters

Today’s Mt Albert byelection could — and should — have been New Zealand’s first online voting trial, claims a veteran Auckland councillor who is concerned change is being held back by political fears of activating young voters.

Experienced Waitakere councillor and former deputy mayor Penny Hulse says Auckland Council has been ready to trial online voting for some time and been pushing for it happen.

And she told the Weekend Herald that today’s Mt Albert byelection was the latest opportunity to go begging.

The Government pulled the plug on online voting for last year’s local body elections over online security fears. There have also been frustrations within the council that this month’s Howick byelection didn’t have the option of online voting either.

The council pored over “highlights and issues” from the 2016 local body elections this week, with one of the key targets being online voting.

Council documents declare Hulse and Mayor Phil Goff “will be pursuing this” while a survey of 1259 people was overwhelmingly in favour of modernisation, with 74 per cent preferring online voting to a traditional postal system.

Hulse said the postal system was antiquated and the democratic process was being hamstrung by what she described as “resistance” to making the voting system as relevant and accessible as possible.

With many young Aucklanders unable to afford housing, she suggested some politicians might not want them to vote on a more accessible and relatable system — such as online or through a smartphone app.

“I think . . . some people are nervous it actually opens up voting to an entirely new demographic — and that demographic might not be the people who vote for them,” Hulse said.

The Government has called for local government to take the lead in online voting, with the need to guarantee the integrity of the system the top priority.

But Hulse questioned some politicians’ interest in a digital switchover.

“Auckland was pretty keen . . . and Government [ said] it didn’t quite meet all the criteria they’d set out to allow it to go live,” she said.

Hulse said the postal system was not bullet- proof either.

“Government seems to want . . . watertight guarantees that it is not hackable,” she said. “[ The postal system] has been hacked in its own way by people just going round at night and picking up ballot papers.”

A spokeswoman for the Mayor’s office said Goff was not available for comment because of other commitments this week, but he endorsed the push for online voting.

Deputy Mayor Bill Cashmore said while there was no clear timeline on when a trial might run, online voting was something he would like to see introduced, as it would probably be well- received by young voters.

“We need to . . . investigate what this could actually do to encourage more people to vote, especially younger voters,” Cashmore said.

According to council’s post- 2016 elections survey, 25 per cent of people who intended to vote — but didn’t — said they would have been encouraged to if there was an online or app- based option.

A spokesman for Associate Justice Minister Mark Mitchell said online voting would not happen in this year’s General Election, but it could be addressed after the September 23 vote.