The right to vote and elect a nation’s government is an important institution in New Zealand, a country that prides itself on being a free and democratic society. However, recent years have shown a slow but steady trend in declining voter turnouts at our triennial elections. There are many reasons that account for the turnout decline in New Zealand over time, many of which can be attributed to the changes in New Zealand society causing citizens to be less engaged in politics, especially youth. It is important to prevent the further decline of voter turnout and there are many ways that this trend can be rectified.
New Zealand voter turnout has experienced a slow but steady decline throughout the 20th century; from an average of 85-90% in the …show more content…
There is a global trend of decreasing voter turnout, with many nations such as the USA and Switzerland facing much greater declines than New Zealand. Statistics suggest that New Zealand's declining voter turnout is not a huge problem, especially compared to other democracies; however, this doesn’t mean that the trend of decreasing voter turnout should be ignored. A low turnout indicates disillusionment and a lack of confidence in our government. As turnout decreases, the legitimacy of results lessens. Studies have shown that low turnout is closely linked to inequality, and is what Farrell calls the ‘inequality spiral’. Those in the poorer socioeconomic demographic are less likely to vote, and therefore will not get politicians representing their interests in government. What results is a “socio-economically biased turnout”, where inequality grows as politicians are less pressured to address the issue. Encouraging more people to vote, especially those in demographics that have traditionally low turnout, should be a focus during the next election year. The turnout percentage that New Zealand experiences now may not be too worrying, but measures should be taken to prevent the trend from further declining at the very least; it would be better to start addressing the issue now before the turnout drops to a …show more content…
Some approaches include proportional representation, ease of voting and registration. Nations that have compulsory voting such as Belgium and Australia, typically experience a higher turnout than countries that don’t. This is the case in Australia where voting increased by 24%. Compulsory voting has a strong effect on turnout because if abstention was illegal, the cost of not voting increases and outweighs the benefits. Educational reform is a possibility that has been discussed and even considered for legislation. It is shown that people with more political knowledge are more likely to vote because they have the information to do so. Learning about politics at school will ensure that most of the population have a basic knowledge of the political system and will feel confident and knowledgeable enough to vote. Currently, young people have little chance to become engaged in politics and in many cases, they must specifically seek knowledge for themselves if interested. Ways to stimulate youth interest in politics is to have younger candidates, integrate youth wings in parties and have politicians make more effort to take into account the opinions and concerns of younger people. The problem of apathy is addressed when youth are engaged by politics, especially if it’s directly from politicians and parties dealing with issues that will directly have an effect on the