Chester Borrows: Grab those papers and vote

Chester Borrows PHOTO/FILE

IT'S that time again ... the three-yearly opportunity for everyone to vote in local elections - that's mayoralties (gosh, don't we hear a lot about Auckland?), councils, community boards, trusts and district health boards.

In times gone by, voting in the local body elections was a matter of turning up at your local kindy, school or hall before 7pm on a Saturday, being slightly embarrassed at having to declare your full name out loud, grabbing the forms, dashing behind the screen and the task was completed. Civic duty done for the next three years.

It was often a time to catch up with neighbours and friends and to marvel at how small the classroom chairs and tables had become after our years away from school.
It felt really good, tactile, I think the current word is.

You handled the marker pen and the forms, and the person behind the desk (notice I didn't say "dinosaur" because that would more aptly describe the method they used of making sure nobody voted twice) took a red pen and ruled out your name on the electoral roll.

Then (did I say "dinosaur"? - this is brontosaurus territory) a wee sticker was placed over the corresponding number from the butt (unlike when buying a Golden Kiwi ticket) and the whole thing was confidential.

As I said, it felt good. You returned home knowing you had done your bit for the process of democracy.

So why, in the past 25 years has the local authority voter turnout been on a steady decline?

How steady? Nationally 57 per cent of eligible voters managed to get to a polling place in 1989 and by the last local elections in 2013, that statistic had fallen to an appalling 41 per cent.

Far less than half of the population bother to exercise their democratic right to have a say.

Common excuses include: "I don't know the candidates" (read the paper or attend a candidates meeting near you); "It doesn't really affect me" (don't you use the roads, water, sewerage, etc?); "What difference can I make?" (yes, it is an instant gratification world, but you wouldn't like it if you didn't have the opportunity) - and there are many other cop-outs.

The simple, sad commentary on this is that, despite all the issues that affect every one of us where we live and bring up our families, the turnout has been in decline in the past generation or so.

It has fallen dramatically and only in 2010 did a slight upward trend appear, with polling coming just days after the 2010 Christchurch earthquake and with heightened interest in the "Super City" concept in Auckland.

So here's my early plea for everyone to have their vote and you can do it in the comfort and privacy of your own home. Now we have postal voting.

Don't leave the voting papers on the fridge, the sideboard or in the centre console of the car. Grab them and do what you have to do with them.

Healthy democracy depends on everyone voting. If it is good enough for people to stand for office, then we should take the opportunity to say what we think. You owe it to yourself and to your family.

Now, it is even easier than going to a booth. Remember, the polls close on Saturday, October 8. Once you have posted your papers, you'll feel good.