It is important to have your say about who sits on the local authorities in your region and gets to influence decision making and spending in your community. Photo / Sarah Ivey
It is important to have your say about who sits on the local authorities in your region and gets to influence decision making and spending in your community. Photo / Sarah Ivey
Editorial
EDITORIAL:
Have you registered to vote in the local body elections? Have you perused the candidate profiles on your voting forms, read some of the wealth of information about them online, in this newspaper and our sister regional daily and community titles? Are you aware of the voting systems involved?Have you sat down and filled out your voting forms? Have you sent them yet?
If the answer is no, the good news is there's still time to do all the above - just.
The voting period (which opened on September 20) closes at midday on Saturday - only a week away. You can physically hand in your documents at council offices around the country until that time, but if you are posting them in, they must be in the mail no later than Tuesday. If you haven't enrolled to vote, the Electoral Commission says you can still request special voting papers from your local council's electoral officer up until Friday. The Weekend Herald urges all those who have not yet voted to do so. We owe it to the women who fought hard to make New Zealand the first country to adopt universal suffrage. We owe it to others elsewhere in the world who still do not enjoy the ability to vote in a democracy. We owe it to ourselves, our children, and the more vulnerable in our society to thoughtfully select those candidates who will best represent us individually and help shape the communities in which we live.
If you are posting your election forms, they must be in the mail by Tuesday. They can be handed in at council offices until midday on Saturday. Photo / File
Elected representatives wield great power - in city, district and regional councils, health boards, community boards and licensing trusts nationwide. They control billions of dollars of local spending - on everything from roading to health to the environment.
But the ultimate power lies with you, as a voter. If you have the time and inclination, ideally rank all the candidates in those local bodies chosen through the STV system. If you don't, just rank your top few.
