Election race seen through college student's eyes

NZ First's Clayton Mitchell, Greens' Emma-Leigh Hodge, Labour's Jan Tinetti, Act's Stuart Pederson and National's Simon Bridges have been working for the youth vote. Photos/file

Tauranga candidates hoping to appeal to the youth vote gathered at Aquinas College this week to face questions from students and drum up support ahead of the general election. Aquinas College student Lilli Scott was there and shares her thoughts on the candidate's efforts.

Tauranga election candidates are attempting to spark interest in voting among youths through discussions at local schools.

With the election date looming closer, candidates from the major political parties attended a political forum held at Aquinas College on Wednesday.

The attendees included Jan Tinetti from Labour, Simon Bridges from National, Emma-Leigh Hodge from Greens, Clayton Mitchell from New Zealand First and Stuart Pedersen from Act.

They all discussed the most relevant policies for young adults, most of which surrounded education and student allowance.

Although the candidates had different opinions on these issues, they all shared a mutual aim to encourage the upcoming generation of voters to have a political voice.

Young people are under-represented in voting statistics as a shocking 37.27 per cent of registered voters between ages 18 to 24 failed to vote in the last election.

New Zealand First's Clayton Mitchell said: "We want to encourage students to think politically and to express that voting is a responsibility."

Some students believed this under-representation was not because young people were not interested in politics, but because of the voting system.

Aquinas student Jess Treanor said the statistics represented a generational decline in voting participation.

"But this is not due to lack of interest. It needs to shift into an online forum as is better suited to these generations".

The overwhelming majority of students spoken to before the event had a preconceived perception that the candidates would be unapproachable.

However, to the students' delight, the candidates were happy to answer questions and engage in conversation.

Abigail Speight, Aquinas College student, said candidates should be aiming to accommodate this level of discussion all year round, not just before an election.

Overall, I felt the collective opinion of this event was compellingly positive.

It dissolved students' hesitation and lack of confidence when discussing politics.

If political parties interest more young people then more young people are likely to vote and have a say in our country's future.

This will make a better New Zealand, for all of us.