Apathy leads the poll on disillusioned Shore

Only one in five North Shore folk has voted so far. Photo / Supplied

Only one in five North Shore folk has voted so far, and residents say they are disillusioned by political bickering and the lack of a strong mayoral candidate or key issues.

With four days left before election day, just 21.7 per cent of voters in the Kaipatiki Local Board area have cast their ballots, the lowest turnout in the Super City.

Upper Harbour (22 per cent) and East Coast Bays (22.4 per cent) in the Albany ward have also had a poor response.

Political commentators say a dull mayoral campaign and uncertainty about the Super City have not inspired the public across Auckland to vote.

But in North Shore and Albany, voter indifference was more acute because of a number of factors.

Candidates for the wards said that because their mayor, Andrew Williams, was outside the two-horse mayoral race, residents did not feel as engaged in the election as people in Manukau or Auckland City.

In the 2007 election, there were two major topics for the North Shore public to rally around - a proposed commercial airport at Whenuapai, and forecast rates increases.

In the Super City election, however, candidates felt there were no major talking points that allowed them to gain traction within their communities.

Mr Williams said North Shore residents had been skeptical about the Super City since it was first proposed, and this was reflected in the voter turnout.

"The feeling on the streets is ... there is no feeling on the streets. The North Shore hasn't seen many advantages in the Super City, so there's a 'we can't be bothered' sort of attitude."

Julia Parfitt, a regional councillor running in the Albany ward, said that local government had a low profile at the best of times, because residents often became aware of their council only when they clashed with it.

In addition to that low profile, negative publicity surrounding the North Shore campaigns - political bickering and accusations of election bribery - had dampened the community's faith in democratic processes.

The highest voter turnout in urban Auckland has been in Otara and Papatoetoe, where unions and churches have mobilised electors and the turnouts have been more than 30 per cent.

Former North Shore mayor George Wood, who is running for the council, said Shore residents were busy people, regular travellers, and were not easily accessed by politicians.

He said many residents were now on holiday, and might have left their voting papers at home.

Other council hopefuls noted that in more difficult economic times, communities sometimes felt that becoming involved in politics was a "luxury".

Candidates in the North Shore and Albany wards said they would have preferred a polling booth instead of a postal ballot, and also for the election date to have been outside the school holidays.