My submission to the Justice Committee looking into low voter turn out at local elections
Justice Committee have opened up submissions to the low voter turn out at this years local elections, here was my submission.
Aucklanders weaponised their apathy because the see the process as an empty meaningless gesture, and I would argue this weaponised apathy started at the Census when huge numbers simply didn’t bother engaging.
REAL POWER: One of the reasons Aucklanders weaponised their apathy is because Council has sweet bugger all real power and that the technocrats make most of the decisions. The ‘Council Controlled Organisations’ are not controlled by Council at all, to lift participation rates you need to have Councillors that have real power, not the pretence of real power.
REAL CHANGE: Voters need to be able to see real universal services that have real impacts on their lives – free public transport is the sort of thing that would create real change and have a direct impact in peoples lives in the city and ensure they turn out and vote every single election.
REAL VISION: The total lack of true local representation kills off participation. We need far more local councillors and they need to have far more say over local issues. We desperately need local resilience networks to help build processes to deal with climate change issues.
DUMP POSTAL BRING BACK ELECTION DAY: Postal voting is a joke, dump them and bring back one day of voting the way we do with the National elections.
RESIST ONLINE VOTING: The moment a result can be criticised as hacked, it would destroy any faith in the system, voting must always be a paper ballot.
MAKE ELECTION DAY A MID WEEK PUBLIC HOLIDAY: Celebrate the fact we are one of the few places on earth where the transfer of power can be done peacefully by making election day a Wednesday and making that day a public holiday so that whanau can gather together, cast their vote as a group down at the local election centre and go home for a big BBQ to celebrate our democracy.
LOWER VOTING AGE TO 16: Young people will face the force of climate change far more deeply than older voters, their concerns and their voices need to be heard and engaging them young will keep them engaged.
NEW REVENUE STREAM TO FUND AUCKLAND INFRSATRUCTURE: Auckland’s problem is the same as many councils, we can’t borrow more for the investment we desperately need because it will trigger a higher interest rate on the existing debt. There needs to be some function where by the NZ Super Fund can directly invest into Council infrastructures without it appearing on the balance sheet of the council as a debt. If citizens of Auckland knew their vote could actually bring about immediate development because there were meaningful ramifications for their vote it would increase participation dramatically.
There needs to be a wholesale re-investment into Local Government so that instead of being a faux democratic choice, citizens actually feel like their vote means something rather than an act masquerading as democracy for the illusion of legitimacy.
Low voter turnout is a not only a factor in Local elections. Almost 700,000 enrolled voters did not vote in the 2017 NZ national election. And, there are around 160,000 (I think) who were eligible to vote but who were not enrolled. Gov Stats page ref here
These numbers could have made a significant difference to the result. Right-wing voters have little or nothing to impede their vote. For those at the bottom of the heap, there are challenges. If the Greens and Labour were to focus on lifting people out of poverty, and succeeded, they would free up their own supporters, their own future voters.
And, by entrenching many in base poverty, the “right” are ensuring that the number of votes they receive are unlikely to be a true representation of the wishes of the actual population.
To anyone out there who’s talking about “Defending our democracy” or is asking, “What happened to our democracy?” — THIS is where it all happens! It begins with people getting out there and voting, showing who or what they want. And if all the standing councillors seem shite, do a Chloe and stand yourself, or grab the arm of someone who actually inspires you and propel them to stand.
That said, as I noted in my earlier comment, a section of the population are often effectively disenfranchised at present, through extreme poverty. Many of Martyn’s recommendations, above, would help address this. A work-free day, for starters, and free public transport (even for that day alone). And, extending the vote to 16 year olds gets my vote 🙂 The future is theirs, and we’re the ones trashing it for them, or cashing it in (“we” being the so-called mature adults).
As often the case, NZAO has seedlings to offer that can thrive and be brought to flourishing, if the political will does exist:
https://www.lgnz.co.nz/
https://localism.nz/
Community engagement and local networking are the basis for promising climate adaptation and resilience.
It has to go beyond mobilization for the vote and to reverse rural destruction as part of the neo-liberal urban centralization model.
Such strategy is by no means a matter of generations but a subject of class and power-structure, being expressed in spatial units and terms.
System Change. Now.