Amalgamation debate: Voter interest 'low'

Distinguished Professor Paul Spoonley expected more votes. Photo / File

Low voter turnout belies the amount of air time given to the amalgamation debate, Distinguished Professor Paul Spoonley has said.

When asked for his view on the latest figures released by Electionz.com, the Pro Vice-Chancellor of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences at Massey University responded: "Wow".

"I think for all the investment in the public debate they are actually very low," he said.

Professor Spoonley added that while there will be a last-minute surge in voting numbers, he would have expected the ballot return rate to be closer to 70-80 per cent when looking at the level of public interest shown in the referendum.

"You are going to struggle to get that at this point," he said.

Looking to the 50-60 per cent turnout that electoral officer Warwick Lampp spoke about in relation to local government elections, Professor Spoonley said for every two people who have already voted one more would need to vote in the remaining few days to get to the 50 per cent mark.

"On that score I do think you will get to 50 per cent. I mean I would be very surprised if you didn't.

"But I am really quite surprised at the relatively low level of voting at this stage in the process."

The low voting turnout has seen both sides of the debate talk some similar talk - that is that everyone should get out there and vote.

"My view is the more people that vote the better and what I would like to see is a large turnout and a clear decision," Napier Mayor Bill Dalton said.

"The worst thing to happen would be a low turnout and a close decision.

"The end result is there is only one vote that counts and that is the one at the end, and you know some communities might vote early and others might leave it until the last minute.

"The end result is that I just want to see a good turnout and a clear result."

A Better Hawke's Bay (ABHB) chairman Rebecca Turner echoed this sentiment. "I think that everybody needs to exercise their right and ensure that they have their say on this very important issue for Hawke's Bay," she said.

When looking at the breakdown of the figures for the respective districts, Ms Turner said that while "Hastings needs to get out and vote", she believed that ABHB had a huge amount of support in the Central Hawke's Bay and "we feel a lot of positive support in Napier as well."

When asked for their predictions on the final vote, Mr Dalton said he didn't predict these things.

"I just wait until the people have spoken," he said.

Ms Turner said she believed in the people of Hawke's Bay. "I think that they have seen that change needs to happen," she said.

"We need to be able to move forward positively together and so this is extremely important for Hawke's Bay. So I believe we will get there."