Voter Apathy
14 October 2007
The city council elections have just finished in New Zealand, and as usual, hardly anyone voted. After each election, everyone tries to guess why everyone else didn't vote, and tries to think of ways that we can get people more interested next time.
There are probably two main issues for not voting. Firstly, people don't see the city council as having a major impact on their lived - as long as water comes out of the taps and the rubbish is collected, then people are happy and don't really care who is running the city. Secondly, voters don't really know the candidates and what they stand for. Each candidate can put a small blurb in the voting booklet, but they all say pretty much the same thing - "I am standing for lower rates, less graffiti and better public transport."
It would be nice to see more information on the Internet at the next election. Perhaps one central web site listing the candidates and their policies on various issues. It was also be handy to be able to vote online, which would save everyone a trip to the postbox.
It will be interesting to see what happens.