Westfield says no to free voter stalls

Voter enrolment officers are being shut out of Westfield shopping centres after the international mall company insisted those wanting to set up stalls inside its outlets had to pay.

Westfield, which has seven malls in Greater Auckland, wants an average of $2500 a week for each stall, said the Auckland project manager of the face-to-face enrolment drives, Timikara Taurerewa.

He said the malls would enable officers to enrol members of the Maori, Pacific and new-immigrant communities - traditionally the most under-represented in terms of voter enrolment and the hardest to reach in mass media marketing.

Mr Taurerewa estimated that if officers could afford to set up in all seven malls until election day, they would be able to enrol up to 25,000 more eligible voters.

"The people we are targeting come through their malls every single day."

One stall in one mall could sign up to 1000 people a week, he said - compared with about 400 to 500 at stalls on a non-mall site.

"It's sad that it's happening. It's for a community service, rather than selling mobile phones or giving people massages inside shopping malls. It's making sure people have updated their details, and if they haven't enrolled, we've got enrolment forms there.

"The bigger picture is election day and encouraging those who are not enrolled to sign up."

Mr Taurerewa works for Face-to-Face Communications, one of several companies that won contracts from the Electoral Enrolment Centre to conduct voter drives.

He initially approached Westfield in mid-June and was told that his company would have to pay.

Mr Taurerewa then talked to supermarket chain owners Progressive Enterprises and Foodstuffs, other mall operators and The Warehouse, who all allowed enrolment officers to set up stalls for free.

Given that support, Mr Taurerewa asked Westfield again, only to be rebuffed. Cabinet minister Chris Carter and other MPs got wind of the dilemma and went to the company's central management. They received the same reply.

Westfield marketing manager Linda Trainer said the use of commercial space within its malls "is no different than the purchase of media space to communicate a message".

"For example, TV, radio and press receive payment for their services from the Electoral Commission or their appointed advertising agency."

She said political candidates could use Westfield malls for free to promote face-to-face contact with voters in their electorates. That activity was regarded as non-profit as it "allows the community to be able to make informed decisions when voting for their local member.

"The situation is different for commercial organisations. The people whose job it is to sign up voters to the electoral roll are paid by the electoral office of the Ministry of Justice to gather those signatures."