Local election voter turnout rates have dropped in the Bay of Plenty, except in Rotorua. Photo / Laura Smith
Community leaders are disappointed voter turnout across the region has taken a hit, with the Bay of Plenty Regional Council participation plummeting.
It comes as the record-low nationwide voter turnout of 36 per cent has been described by the Local Government New Zealand president as a "system failure".
But an election expert says turnout was up in many places and there are ways to improve it.
Only about 26 per cent of those enrolled to vote in the regional council election exercised that right, compared to 43 per cent in 2019.
The preliminary result for the Western Bay of Plenty District Council on Monday was 37.3 per cent, compared to 39.1 per cent in 2019.
The Rotorua Lakes Council saw a slight rise in voter turnout, going from 46.4 per cent in 2019 to a preliminary 46.6 per cent.
Local Government New Zealand president Stuart Crosby said turnouts of below 50 per cent across the last two local government elections were "not good enough".
"People have fought hard for democracy over the centuries and, in New Zealand, we have a good, honest, transparent system. We have to create an environment where people want to participate."
Crosby said the national low voter turnout could be summed up as a "system failure".
"It's not just one issue," Crosby said. "It's not just the postal system, all the component parts need to be looked at to see if we can improve the voter turnout."
Crosby, who was also the highest-polling Tauranga general constituency candidate in the regional council election, said the lack of public participation in local politics did not reflect a lack of interest.
"The biggest issue is the connection between the communities and their councils. For whatever reason, it seems [communities and councils] have become more distant and that's shown at the ballot box."
Crosby said some of the feedback he had received showed people did not feel their voices were heard and so did not see the point in voting.
"Local Government New Zealand have called for a really solid piece of research to be done immediately."
Crosby said there was a better understanding of the role of the regional council in rural areas compared to urban Tauranga.
The regional council's chief electoral officer, Warrick Lampp, said its voter returns may have been impacted by the lack of a Tauranga City Council election this year.
The city is led by Government-appointed commissioners, with its next council set to be elected when their term ends in July 2024.
Lampp said voters may be "less invested" in the outcome of a regional council race compared to the mayoral and city councillor contests that would usually also appear on their voting papers.
He said that with the major exception of Auckland, voter turnout was up in many councils around New Zealand including Christchurch, Wellington and Invercargill.
His suggestions for improving turnout included a longer voting period to make up for postal system struggles, online voting, promoting a voting day, adding email addresses to the electoral rolls and standardising more local government voting systems and rules across the country.
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Western Bay of Plenty District Council chief executive John Holyoake said the district's result was disappointing.
The council had been proactively encouraging people to consider standing in the elections and voting via its Generation Change project.
"I don't think we could have tried any harder in terms of promoting the elections in the Western Bay," Holyoake said. "To fall short, I'm disappointed."
James Denyer, the new Western Bay of Plenty District Council mayor, also felt the region's voter turnout was upsetting.
"I believe in democracy and the participation of people in that process. I was trying my hardest to get as many people to vote as possible - mainly for me, but in general. And I know council put a lot of effort in to promoting voting."
He said the option of online voting was something that should "definitely" be explored to help improve turnout.
Re-elected regional councillor and former chairman Doug Leeder described the turnout as "disappointing" given the effort put in by LGNZ to encourage voting.
"I know LGNZ and the local authorities put a lot of effort into trying to get people to get out and vote. And clearly it hasn't worked," he said.
"But you can only stand back and say 'What are those issues we need to address to encourage voter turnout?' That could be done in a bit of a post-mortem."
Leeder said councillors played an important role as "stewards for the environment" and the community had "high expectations" of them to look after the land, air and water.
"I think everybody's expectation in terms of stewardship is a lot higher than what the voter interests would indicate."
The Bay of Plenty Times asked both the Bay of Plenty Regional Council and the Western Bay of Plenty District Council about the total amount spent on promoting the election and encouraging people to vote.
Both councils referred to statements they provided last week.
Holyoake said the council did not have a final cost on hand for this campaign but funding was "not an issue".
Regional council governance manager Yvonne Tatton said the total budget for council-led promotions was $25,000 and it contributed $500 to the national campaign.
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern Ardern said she was "worried" about low voter turnout.
"I do think it's time for us to have to work with local government and say, from local government's perspective, 'What do you think will bring the greatest engagement with your voters?'"
Rotorua Lakes Council acting deputy chief executive district leadership and democracy Greg Kieck said it was pleasing to have achieved a higher voter turnout than the past three elections in Rotorua.
"Our goal is always to increase voter participation and, while we achieved that, we would obviously like to see it even higher.
"Why people don't vote and how we increase participation in future will be a discussion point for us locally, as it already is nationally."
As of Monday morning, the Kawerau District Council did not have its voter turnout rate percentage available on the website.
The voter turnout for the Ōpōtiki District Council was 44.7 per cent, and the percentage for the Whakatāne District Council was 35.2.
-Additional reporting Emma Houpt