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Resolution
number KT/2023/62
MOVED by Chairperson J Gillon, seconded by Member E
Hannam:
That
the Kaipātiki Local Board:
a)
provides the following feedback on
the evaluation of the Auckland Council local elections 2022 (in no particular
order):
i)
support a combination of both postal
voting and booth voting:
A)
agree with the Evaluation that there
was a noticeable number of people wanting to vote in the last two days of the
voting period, and sizeable queues at some ballot boxes on the last day,
indicating a desire for voting at the end of the voting period.
B)
support the promotion of a single day
of booth voting to help galvanise voters and to help prevent people
forgetting to post their vote.
C)
support a reduction in the voting
period from 3 weeks to 2 weeks, to help prevent people deferring voting until
it is too late.
ii)
commend the increase in ballot boxes
from previous elections, which were located at Countdown Supermarkets.
However as many of the supermarkets are located in close proximity to other
ballot box locations, such as at libraries, there wasn’t an increase in
geographic spread across the local board area. We would like to see more
ballot box locations next time with greater coverage of the local board area,
especially considering the decline in postboxes in recent years.
iii)
we noticed that many
ballot boxes were full in the lead-up to the end of the voting period, and
boxes were not removed immediately at the end of the voting period. Ballot
boxes needed to be cleared more regularly and removed from sight at the close
of voting.
iv)
the most significant obstacle to
voting for North Shore residents was the lack of local special voting booths.
Many residents did not receive their voting papers, or their papers were
damaged by wet weather. Those who needed replacement papers were told to
travel to Orewa or the City, which was inconvenient and not always possible.
Casting a special vote should be easy. We recommend that there is at least
one special voting booth per local board area, or at the very least one per
electoral ward.
v)
would like to see greater and swifter
enforcement of the rules around billboards and candidate brochures. There
were many instances of billboards being located outside of the designated
site, or not carrying an authorisation statement. There were also instances
of candidate brochures not including authorisation statements.
vi)
suggest that one way to help supply
more candidate information to voters would be to offer the opportunity for
candidates to each supply a flyer (of specified size) to accompany the
standard voter booklet.
vii)
support the subject of compulsory
voting being explored by the Electoral Review Panel as a means to increase
voting turnout and transforming it from a right to a duty.
viii)
strongly support the teaching of
Civics at schools, including on the voting system, structure and purpose of
Auckland Council, and the role of Local Boards.
ix)
hold concerns about the role that
Auckland Council has played in the election in targeting candidates to stand
for elected positions. This is effectively the operational arm of council
trying to shape/alter the makeup of the governance arm, which is
inappropriate. We do, however, support Council encouraging the public to vote
and seek information on nominated candidates.
x)
would like consideration to be given
to passing the responsibility of running local body elections to the
Electoral Commission.
support an increase in Māori representation on the
Governing Body, such as by way of Māori wards. However, the role and
purpose of the Independent Māori Statutory Board should be reassessed in
this instance, in particular, whether the Board members continue to hold
voting rights at meetings.
xi)
do not support STV as a method of
voting.
xii)
request that the number of board
members on each Local Board is reassessed once the 2023 Census population
data is released. The Kaipātiki Local Board currently has a population
of over 88,000 people (2018 Census) and 8 members, however to ensure
representation is approximately one member per 10,000 in population, there
should currently be 9 members and this is likely to be reinforced by the 2023
data.
xiii)
support moving to a 4-year
electoral term for local bodies.
CARRIED
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