Education key to lift low voting

Candidates in two local body byelections plagued by low voter turnout say educating people about the importance of councils and increasing publicity about voting could help stop the rot.

By-elections were held in Rangitıkei’s southern ward and Palmerston North in February, and each attracted few voters.

In the Rangitıkei ward, 447 votes were cast, a turnout of 15.1 per cent, which could be a New Zealand record low. The byelection cost the council $23,045, so it spent $51.55 for each vote, where Coral Raukawa won a twohorse race. In Palmerston North there were 16,674 votes, a turnout of 27.23 per cent. With a byelection cost of $157,062, that worked out at $9.42 a vote, where Orphee Mickalad was elected ahead of 10 others.

By-elections traditionally attract fewer voters than full council elections, although also over summer Invercargill City Council held a by-election, won by talkback host Marcus Lush, with a turnout of 37 per cent.

In 2019’s council election, turnout in Palmerston North was 37.3 per cent and in Rangitıkei, across the whole district, it was 46.8 per cent.

Holding by-elections over summer so soon after a general election was seen as problematic, as people tuned out of politics.

William Wood stood as a candidate in the city council and general elections. He said that although the turnout in Palmerston North was abysmal, it was not surprising given the lack of knowledge among voters about what the council did.

He was in favour of civics education in schools to counter this including, ahead of council elections, council officers or councillors going into high schools to talk about the importance of voting.

“We are not talking about a big commitment here. It might be an hour every three years.”

Wood also thought including a physical map of where DX mail boxes were sited could help too, rather than just a QR code saying where they were, which would not be accessible for some people.

People with no interest in how a council worked were unlikely to go out of their way to vote, he said, so it should be made as easy as possible for everyone to have their say.

Massey University local government and public management specialist Dr Andy Asquith, who stood in the by-election, said “institutional apathy” among councils was contributing to the problem, as was the poor calibre of council candidates.

He said the Electoral Commission needed to seize control and run national advertising

campaigns about local elections, featuring All Blacks and political party leaders.

Palmerston North city and Rangitıkei district councils have been advised by electoral officer Warwick Lampp, of Electionz.com, not to hold candidates’ meetings in case officials were seen to be acting in a biased manner.

Raukawa thought the lack of meetings in the Rangitıkei southern ward, in which the overbudget and slow-to-complete Bulls community centre development attracted plenty of publicity over the past few years, contributed to the apathy.

She said she would work on getting herself and what she stood for better known. Rangitıkei District Council democracy and planning group manager Carol Gordon said officials would have liked a higher turnout but low figures were not uncommon for by-elections. ‘‘It is up to voters if they choose to exercise their vote.’’

Asked what the council attributed the low turnout to, Gordon said: ‘‘As stated earlier it is common to have a low turnout for a by-election, and you would need to check with people living in the southern ward as to why they chose not to vote.’’

Palmerston North City Council democracy and governance manager Hannah White said officials were disappointed more people did not vote.

Turnout was complex and no single factor could be cited as being behind the low turnout.

White cited as possible reasons the summer period, with students away and families in the back-to-school phase, satisfaction with council performance, public holidays during the voting period, fatigue after the general election and people no longer using postal services as they did.

White said central government had reviewed voting by post for local body elections and was working through recommendations.