Election 2020: Whanganui District Council Youth Committee hosting Q&A with election hopefuls

Q&A hosts Chez-Ashli Peter and Teekay Kawiti. Photo / Georgie Ormond

Whanganui District Council's Youth Committee is hosting a candidates Q&A next week in an effort to encourage young people to vote.

The event, broadcast on Facebook live, will be hosted by local first-time voter Teekay Kawiti and Youth Committee member Chez-Ashli Peter.

Kawiti and Peter will put questions submitted by young people across the district to candidates, challenging the parliamentary hopefuls on issues important to youth.

The hosts said the message they want to get out to young people is that voting is for everyone.

"You don't have to be a councillor or someone with a high level of education to vote.

"You can be an ordinary teenager who is interested enough to have questions and thoughts about political issues such as the cannabis and euthanasia referenda."

The pair have recently been involved in creating informative short videos on the importance of voting and what it entails for young people, distributed to young people on Facebook.

Kawiti and Peter said they're looking forward to seeing the questions young people ask.

"We know our youth are engaged with topics at an adult level and are ready to talk and find solutions for everyone's concerns so we're looking forward to an interesting evening."

The event will be livestreamed on the Whanganui District Council Youth Committee Facebook page at 7pm on Wednesday, October 7.