Gisborne Mayor urges greater public participation in local elections

Mayor Rehette Stoltz is stressing the importance of people participating in local elections. She says local governance affects people's every-day lives through roads, water, rubbish collection, public parks, museums and more.

Bold changes could be in store for the country’s local election voting system as Local Government New Zealand’s Electoral Reform Group addresses declining voter participation.

Gisborne Mayor Rehette Stoltz says people interact with their local councils every day through roads, water, rubbish collection, public parks and museums.

Yet less than half of the eligible population voted in Gisborne’s local election in 2022 despite the role the council plays in people’s lives.

“Local elections are a great opportunity to participate in those processes because it is relevant to your daily life,” Stoltz says.

The mayor is part of the Local Government New Zealand (LGNZ) Electoral Reform Group, which releases a paper on Thursday featuring five key issues affecting local government voter participation.

* Voting methods (such as postal voting).

* Public awareness of local government’s importance.

* Poor understanding of policies and candidates.

* How elections are administered and promoted.

* How local government could transition to a four-year term.

LGNZ president Sam Broughton said average voter turnout nationwide for the 2022 local elections was 41.5%-36% lower than the 2023 parliamentary elections (77.5%).

Gisborne’s 2022 local election turnout was marginally higher at 43.4% although Broughton said it was common for smaller regions to have higher turnouts.

Broughton said older people participated more in elections “so it is time to invite younger ones and make sure people are aware of the involvement that council has in your life”.

The electoral reform group is looking at how local elections are promoted and administered.

Each independent council chief executive is responsible for this ... ”and we’ve done a great job over the years trying to especially engage with groups that might not have usually engaged with council”, Broughton said.

However, the group was looking at a government-administered nationwide promotional campaign for greater consistency.

People were being asked if local elections should be administered like the general elections, which used the Orange Guy, she said.

“So that people get the same type of input and maybe the same investment that central Government puts into the General Election.”

Gisborne District Council’s 2022 elections cost more than $218,000, according to a council report.

About 23,000 electors voted in the general ward and 10,857 people voted in the Māori wards.

Stoltz said they tried to be inclusive and engaging to encourage all demographics to vote in elections.

“I remember at the last election we had the concept of a pōwhiri where ... people were welcomed. That whole concept was used to try and encourage more participation from our Māori voters.”

LGNZ Electoral Reform Group chair and Nelson Mayor Nick Smith said in a statement that postal volumes had fallen by 80% since 2000 and street post boxes were down by 40% since 2010.

Stoltz said this decline also applied to Gisborne because residents often had to travel into town to find mailboxes.

In the past, the council had been proactive with ballot-collecting boxes. However, this was complex because it needed to be secured.

“There are legal obligations to keep the collection boxes that are not mailboxes in safe possession,” she said.

“People don’t use mail like they used to. People don’t receive mail like they used to. That whole landscape has changed. It is not [fit]-for-purpose anymore.

The Local Electoral Reform Issues paper was to be released Thursday, with submissions closing at midnight on Sunday, January 19, 2025. The final position paper will be released and presented to the Government in July 2025.

Stoltz said it would not be used in next year’s election but would hopefully be incorporated into the Government elections the year after as they were also looking at changing that voting cycle to four years.

“So we are asking people to please give us the feedback and advice.”