Hurunui’s Youth Councillors are doing their bit to help this year’s government elections be free and fair.

Voting in the 2023 General Election opens on Monday 2 October and closes on Saturday 14 October.

Youth Councillors Tamzyn Murdoch, Will Munsey and Aliannah Thompson spent a Sunday this month polishing up their knowledge of what makes a robust democracy, looking at the importance of political neutrality for those in public office.

The training took place in Christchurch and was organised by the Rerenga Awa Canterbury Youth Workers Collective, a network that supports those working with youth.

Aliannah says the training brought home how important it is to create a fair, non-judgmental environment when engaging the youth voice and provided useful tips on how to help youth councillors navigate potentially difficult situations.

“You can’t voice your personal political beliefs when representing the Youth Council, but you can get young people interested in the elections,” explains Will.

Will says one of the challenges is getting young people who have turned 18 to get engaged in enrolling to vote.

Tim Perry, Manager of CYWC, says the request for training came from the youth groups involved in the network — “particularly youth councils, as this is an election year and it’s important for these young people to know how to be politically neutral in their roles, and to develop how they work alongside others who may have different opinions to their own”.

Tamzyn says it was helpful for the youth councillors to consider which “hat” they were wearing when having conversations in political spaces – an exercise, she says, that was especially useful.

Perry says it was effective having the training delivered by the Electoral Commission’s youth advisors. “It’s really neat having younger people delivering training for young people.”

Hurunui District Councils’ Youth Development Officer Jo Sherwood says the training was a great way for the youth councillors to look at how they can promote voting in this year’s general elections in a neutral way.

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