October 07, 2022
Turnout low as polls near close
An Auckland councillor says it’s up to those sitting around council tables to generate enthusiasm for voting.
Turnout with one day to go was 29.4 percent across the super city, ranging from 43 percent in Warkworth to 17 percent in Otara.
Angela Dalton, who is standing again for the Manurewa Papakura ward, says politicians need to make people feel it’s worth their filling in their ballots.
“If people felt there was influence in their daily lives from having a vote, then perhaps we would know we were really doing our jobs well and engaging with people,” she says.
Councillor Dalton say while some people think online voting would solve the problem of low turn, research done by the elections service suggest it would only increase voting by 5 percent – and a return to in person booth voting would be better than the current postal vote system.
Ballots need to be returned by noon Saturday to th boxes in libraries, council officers and supermarkets.