Disappointing Voting figures

With only ten days left for people to cast their postal ballots in local body elections, it looks like it is going to be fewer that half the eligible voters - again - who actually participate.  Today's tally-up shows that so far only 20.25% of the potential voters, and fewer than 17% in the Nelson Park ward, have sent their papers in.  The total final percentage in the last election - 2010 - was just 44.88% and despite the huge number of candidates and the resignation of many incumbents creating vacancies this year, we are trending towards the same disappointing voting figures.

I thought the following opinion piece by Local Government New Zealand Chief Executive Malcolm Alexander hit the nail on the head.

If you were a shareholder in a huge business, one with $120 billion of assets and an annual budget of more than $8 billion, wouldn't you want a say in who should run it? Well, effectively, that's what you as a shareholder in your community have the chance to do every three years in the local authority elections.

Local authorities in New Zealand own vast assets and even small councils' annual budgets run into the millions.

Once every three years you have the opportunity, by casting your ballot, to play your part in deciding who will be running New Zealand's towns, cities, districts, regions and health boards. Democracy really does not get much better than that. Yet just over half of New Zealanders who are eligible to vote will not do so.

Research has revealed that 31 per cent say they do not vote because they do not know

Campaigning hard
- but is anyone listening?

enough about the candidates. A further 24 per cent intend to vote but forget and around 14 per cent were too busy. Only 14 per cent were genuinely not interested.

These statistics are surprising - apathy is the enemy of democracy. It appears many people have lost sight of the democratic process by which our local authorities are run, and simply take for granted this vast range of services, without understanding the processes behind it.

Local government needs to better tell the story of what we do - providing and managing the vast local infrastructure that supports the very fabric of New Zealand's communities.

Supported by skilled council employees, elected representatives oversee a huge range of services. It is the water you drink, wash your clothes in and shower in. It's the pavements you walk on, the roads you drive on, the swimming pools and parks where you exercise, and the recreation grounds where you cheer your kids on.

Your local authority takes your rubbish away, manages your sewage, provides street and traffic lighting, the libraries where you borrow books, and much, much more.

Frequently, tough decisions have to be made about how to prioritise use of the rates you pay. By voting for those who have the skills and leadership to strengthen local communities and revitalise our communities, you are providing your personal input into how your money is used.

This is how we have our say on the value we receive.

If something doesn't go the way they want it to, New Zealand ratepayers are quick to complain. Pretty much any hiccup in the system will see council switchboards light up like Christmas trees and letters to the editor increase tenfold.

That is good. It's healthy for people to hold their elected representatives to account. But exercising your democratic right as a citizen to vote and select those representatives is much more effective than simply complaining if you don't like what they do.

If you want the best value from the services your council provides then you need to ensure that the people who are elected best represent your values and your ambitions for the community you live in.

It is time to find out about whether the people standing in your area are open-minded, sensible and can effectively weigh up the pros and cons on an issue, and then vote for them.

Re-erecting my sign which had
been downed in the weekend's wind

Finding out about what your local candidates stand for has never been easier. Read the voting papers or simply go to vote.co.nz, key in your postal address and you will immediately be provided with details about the candidates standing in your area.

All local authority elections are conducted by postal vote - you are not required to go to a polling station. You can simply fill in your voting form, slip it into the prepaid envelope provided and next time you are passing a post box, drop it in.

It needs to be posted in time to reach the electoral officer by midday on October 12 - but there's no need to wait.

Why not fill it in tonight and post tomorrow morning? Voting is pretty straightforward and in 2016 it will get even easier when the local authority elections will be trialling an e-voting system.

I've already cast my vote, weighing up candidates standing in my local area and those which best reflect the leadership I'm looking for.

I accept that mine is only one of many votes and my chosen candidates may not be elected - but that is democracy - I've had my say.

It's been a great week.

Yesterday our Napier Grey Power committee met to organise the third of our candidates' meetings to meet those running for office in the upcoming Local Body Elections. 

The first was held early in August, when we hosted all six mayoral candidates and questioned them in the All Saints Church hall, filled with well over 100 people. 

With the awesome Grey Power committee
From left, Lillian, Laurie, me, Jim, June and John

Although all six had their strengths, the difference between incumbent councillors (Cocking, Dalton, Lutter and Pyke) and newcomers Sye and Trim was most clearly noticeable on the question of amalgamation, with the former opposed and the latter ranging from "wait and see" (Sye) to "it's going to happen anyway" (Trim). 

The second meeting was even larger, same Mayoral candidates, but it was in the evening rather than the afternoon, at Princess Alexandra Retirement complex.  A different audience but similar questions and responses.  There's a lot of interest out there, particularly from our generation! 

In just under two weeks we are holding another - an all candidates meeting for the six candidates contesting the three Napier seats in the Regional Council, and in this picture we had just finished our meeting organising the questions, format and publicity.  

Apart from amalgamation, the issues are quite different - the dam, gas and oil exploration (including fracking) and privatisation.  The closure of the Napier-Gisborne railway is another of their issues.  

Mayoral candidates speaking at the All-Saints meeting. 
From left David Trim, John Cocking, 
Bill Dalton, Roy Sye, Michelle Pyke, 
timekeeper Laurie Jenkin,  chair Robin Gwynn, 
and candidate Rob Lutter (standing)

To be honest, most people don't know what the Regional Council does so this will give our members the chance to learn a bit more about their work.  Come along if you can - it's on Tuesday, 17th September, 1:30 pm at the Tamatea Community Church, 1 York Avenue.

So our little committe of us "over 50's", ranging in our political views from left to right, in religious beliefs from staunch to none, all have one thing in common: the desire to better the lot of the older generation through advocacy, education and fellowship.  

We hold monthly meetings with interesting speakers, produce a quarterly newsletter, make submissions to Council on issues of concern. 

However, our real success lies in what underpins everything we do: we work as a team. Respect, affection, division of labour and a commitment that we will all do "our bit" is a winning formula.  I'd love to see our new councils - local and regional - operating the same way; then we could really make things happen!