As election day fast approaches all eyes are on a voting group that has yet to reach its full potential: youth aged 18 to 24.
More than 330,000 youth nationwide were enrolled to vote in the 2014 election yet nearly 40 per cent of them failed to show up to the ballots to vote.
According to the Electoral Commission both the Napier and Tukituki youth turnout sat below the national average at 59.64 per cent and 59.06 per cent respectively.
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Hastings resident Aroha Peri, 21, said more compulsory education about the voting system was needed in schools.
"I was a troubled kid in high school and never really listened so I don't really understand the election, I don't know what it's about."
Not enrolled to vote, Ms Peri said the fact that she never understood the voting system had held her back from getting involved.
"I think the reason why young people don't take part is because we don't have the voting system properly explained to us, which isn't good because we're the next up and coming generation."
Josiah Clapperton was enrolled to vote but wasn't convinced he would turn out for the ballot come September.
"I did vote last election but no matter who I seem to vote for it seems nothing ever changes. It's the same year in, year out,
"It's really disconcerting because you vote for someone and expect things to happen but they never do."
However the 21-year-old did voice his concern about New Zealand assets being sold to foreign buyers and the trend towards legalising cannabis as key issues that might motivate him to vote after all.
Napier resident Belinda Arnold, 22, said she was enrolled but hadn't ever voted and didn't care enough to vote this year either.
"I don't really care. I tend to lose the paperwork and only enrolled because they came around at school. If issues meant more to me I'd probably go ahead and vote."
Joel Jardine, 19, of Napier wasn't interested in voting and never had been.
"I can't be bothered. Politics don't really interest me that much. I don't really think about it at all."
Tukituki candidates Lawrence Yule (National) and Anna Lorck (Labour) both acknowledged youth had a low voting turnout and said they were actively engaging with them to ensure this was improved in the lead-up to election day.
Mr Yule said many young people didn't vote because they didn't see any reason to and it wasn't in their "conscious mind".
But he said he'd been working to get Prime Minister Bill English to visit as many Hawke's Bay high schools as he could, as well as engaging with young people through social media.
Ms Lorck said she was confident Labour's newly-appointed party leader Jacinda Ardern was going to create a "youth quake" of young voters.
"Voting has to be relevant for young people and if anyone is going to get young people to vote it's Jacinda Ardern ... She's connected to them and that's going to make a huge difference."