October 03, 2016
Low turn out blights Maori board chances
A Maori local body candidate is concerned that low turnout means it will be very hard for Maori candidates to be elected.
Will Flavell is standing for a second term on the Henderson Massey local board along with three other Maori.
He’s concerned that with just five days to go just 15 percent of voters in his area have sent back their ballots, and the number of voters on the Maori roll who have voted is extremely low.
"If Maori don’t vote we are going to get the same people elected time and time again and thos people aren't truly reflective of the diversity of our communities so it is important we do vote and I recommend people send their votes by Wednesday or go into their local libraryy and band in their voting papers to the boxes in each of the local libraries," Mr Flavell says.
He says a $2 million Show Your Love campaign to encourage turn out clearly hasn’t worked, and it’s time to consider other options such as online voting.
Copyright © 2016, UMA Broadcasting Ltd: www.waateanews.com