Editorial: Local democracy too vital to ignore

Low voter turnout at local body elections is hardly a new phenomenon. Indeed, the hand-wringing which has accompanied the 43 per cent vote in Auckland City, and a similar anaemic interest in most other areas, seems almost an overreaction when contrasted with typical turnouts a generation ago. In 1983, for example, just over a quarter of those eligible to vote in Auckland City did so.

Rightly, that poll was seen as a travesty of a democratic verdict. Rightly, a truer public mandate was sought. Postal ballots began to be used widely, and larger municipalities were divided into simpler electoral districts. The changes worked to some extent. Local bodies could, typically, expect at least half of their citizens to vote. Now, however, the level of voting has returned to square one, and a rethink is needed.

What has gone wrong? In the first instance, mail-order voting has clearly lost its novelty. Tinkering with the amount of time that voters have to return their ballot forms will not alter that. More importantly, the complexity which so intimidated voters 20 or so years ago has returned. If local government has been consolidated, it seems no less complicated.

This year's ballot papers incorporated a daunting list of candidates for the mayoralty, local council, regional council and community board - along with the new task of selecting those who will sit on a district health board. Not even a helpful guide to the candidates greatly lessened the burden.

Other peripheral factors did not aid the turnout. International affairs were probably some sort of distraction. And in some areas, a dearth of controversial issues encouraged apathy. A 65 per cent turnout in Queenstown, one of the biggest in the country, was telling. There, housing development in rural areas is a source of high-profile antagonism. But such factors cannot gloss over a more deep-seated problem. Local government is rarely as controversial as central government. Nor need it be. The activities of local bodies, nonetheless, have an immediate bearing on everyone's quality of life - and demand a voter turnout as substantial as that for a general election.

Attaining that turnout will not be simple. On Sunday the Local Government Minister, clearly at something of a loss, ran up the flagpole the idea of making voting compulsory. Yesterday she quickly ran it back down. Compulsion is, as Sandra Lee noted, part of the Australian political scene. But Australians are a far more pragmatic lot, and any political party would introduce it here at its peril.

That means the novel feature of the 2004 elections will be local bodies' right to choose between continuing to use the first-past-the-post voting system and a single transferable vote. Some see STV as introducing an excitement factor. More likely, it will make voting even more daunting. The task is complex enough without voters having to rank their preferred candidates in order. Any local authority with a big slate of candidates risks an even lower turnout if it opts for STV.

Likewise, it would be foolhardy to ditch postal voting. Asking people to fill out ballots in polling booths, when the task is so much greater than at a general election, would be a further turn-off. This is a task most easily achieved at one's leisure and at one's home. It could, however, be made rather less daunting. A good starting point would be ballot papers that in their clarity are as voter-friendly as possible.

Less blurring of party lines and ideologies would also help. Auckland City voters, for example, had reason to feel confused when the left-leaning City Vision did not back its long-serving council team leader, Bruce Hucker, for the mayoralty. And more so when Judith Tizard, a Labour Government Minister for Auckland Issues, supported Christine Fletcher, a former National Party MP. Matters in the Auckland region could, however, be simplified if a super city were sanctioned. In one swoop, one tier of local government - the regional council - would be removed.

Legislation before Parliament will give local bodies more power to decide the services they provide. Thus, although the likes of roads, public transport, sewerage and parks might seem mundane, the need for voter participation has never been greater. Local democracy is too important to be left ailing.

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