Ron Mark MP
New Zealand First Deputy Leader
Local Government Spokesperson
29 SEPTEMBER 2016

Return the Ballot Box to Local Government Elections

New Zealand First believes postal voting should be dropped and the country should return to polling booths for local body elections.

“With postal votes slow to come in for the current elections, this change might arrest a decline in voting which this year could become a record low turnout,” says New Zealand First Local Government Spokesperson Ron Mark.

“The move to postal voting since 1992 has been a disaster.

“Since the last vote at polling stations in 1989, local election turnout has plummeted 16% with only 4.1 electors out of every 10 voting. Postal voting was meant to increase turnout.

“But the voting window is open for 21 days, and many people just don’t get around to it. One day of reckoning to focus public and media attention is what is needed.

“Electronic voting is not the answer either. It would suffer from the same kind of ‘I’ll do that later’ inertia because we’d still have voting window lasting weeks.

“The claims for a move to E-voting are eerily similar to those put forward by postal voting advocates in the late 1980’s.”

ENDS

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