[imc-auckland-video] Backgrounder for Chris Carter interview - 4 recent articles with him quoted

[Kim Mazur]

Electronic voting on table for future elections 

11.10.2004
1.00pm 
Local Government Minister Chris Carter is keen to examine electronic
voting in a bid to get young people interested in local politics. 

Low voter turnout in the weekend's elections and delays in getting
results caused Mr Carter concern and are set to force an overhaul of how
local councils are elected. 

Mr Carter said today the slow count "deplorable", saying in places such
as Dunedin and Marlborough it was disgraceful. 

Marlborough still does not know who its mayor is, while Dunedin found
out only last night. 

Better resourcing would be in place for the next local body elections to
ensure such delays were not repeated, Mr Carter told National Radio. 

He was keen for Parliament's justice and electoral select committee to
look into how to encourage voter participation in the wake of poor
turnouts. 

Postal voting was intended to encourage participation when it was
introduced. 

Initially it did, but it was time to look at further options, Mr Carter
said. 

"I am really keen to see the justice and electoral select committee look
at this issue -- seeing whether there is an option for electronic voting
for instance," Mr Carter said. 

"It's young voters that are participating least of all, and that may be
a way of attracting there greater appreciation." 

Electronic voting has been used in Britain. 

Mr Carter said the Government would examine whether the Single
Transferrable Vote (STV) system used by some councils had proved a
turnoff. 

Under STV, voters ranked candidates in order of preference. 

In Wellington the turnout was 40.4 per cent under STV, compared with 47
per cent under the old first-past-the-post system. 

The justice and electoral select committee chaired by Labour MP Tim
Barnett was keen to examine whether STV was a success, Mr Carter said. 

"That's something we will be exploring in the next two weeks -- whether
or not there are a greater number of spoiled ballots, (and) whether
people were turned off by that system." 

It appeared nationwide turnout fell to around 44 or 45 per cent compared
to 50 per cent at the last poll. 

Postal voting for local body elections began in the 1960s and the system
was universally adopted by 1989. 

It initially seemed to increase voter interest, but since 1989 there has
been steady drop in participation. 

Mr Carter yesterday indicated there was little chance of the Government
contemplating mandatory voting as in Australia where non-voters face
prosecution. 

It appeared the private company that was handling many councils
elections may have underestimated the work that was needed, he said. 

National Party local government spokesman Nick Smith said having
different voting systems in the same area, had proven to be a dismal
failure. 

"Many voters, when faced with three voting papers with three different
systems, have given up in despair," Dr Smith said. 

A National government would consult on what was the preferred voting
system and ensure it was used nationwide, he said. 


Poll apathy dismays minister 

11.10.2004
By HELEN TUNNAH 
Local Government Minister Chris Carter wants an inquiry into why the
turnout at the weekend's local body elections was again so low. 

He said the continuing poor turnout by New Zealanders to vote for their
local mayor and councillors was "bad for democracy". 

He intends asking Parliament's justice and electoral select committee to
consider holding an inquiry into why turnout slipped to under 45 per
cent across the country. 

Preliminary figures from the elections suggested 44.8 per cent of voters
sent in their postal ballots, down from 48.9 per cent three years ago,
he said. 

Auckland bucked the trend, with an increased turnout - 48.3 per cent to
42.8 per cent - which was attributed to the controversy surrounding the
mayoral race between incumbent John Banks and successful challenger Dick
Hubbard. 

But other Auckland cities reported very low polling. 

In North Shore, the turnout was just 34.6 per cent, and Waitakere 35.7
per cent. Early figures for Manukau indicated a 39.8 per cent turnout. 

Hamilton recorded about 44 per cent. 

In Wellington and Christchurch incumbent mayors Kerry Prendergast and
Garry Moore romped home as expected, probably contributing to poor
participation rates of 40 per cent and 36 per cent. 

Mr Carter said it was not clear whether the lack of support for local
body elections reflected confusion about the single transferable vote
(STV) system for voting, which was used by 10 councils for the first
time. 

Some people also had to manage two voting systems, the traditional
first-past-the-post system for councils and STV for district health
boards. 

Last night just Auckland and three other district health board results
were available. The other 17 boards were still waiting for results to be
tallied. 

The delay is related to electionz.com, which most boards contracted to
process and count their votes. 

It had received a large number of late votes and more than expected
which needed manual checking rather than just computer scanning,
Ministry of Health spokesman David Pannett said. 

Electionz.com managing director Stephen Kilpatrick said processing of
board results was put aside to focus on processing council results. 

Mr Carter said declining interest in voting was a worldwide trend,
except in Australia, where it was compulsory to vote. 

While in New Zealand it is compulsory to be registered to vote, people
are not required to cast a ballot. 

The justice and electoral committee cannot be told to hold an inquiry,
but it is expected there will be sufficient cross-party support by MPs
who sit on it that a review of the elections will be held. 

It could look at issues such as why so few young people vote, how well
people have juggled two different types of voting systems and whether
there were more spoilt ballots than usual. 

There might also be more contentious issues raised - such as releasing
information about who has not voted so people can be lobbied to send in
ballots as happens in the United States. 

Postal voting was introduced for local body elections in 1989, because
of declining participation, and raised the turnout to 57 per cent. That
figure has been dropping ever since. 

Green Party co-leader Rod Donald last night asked people to be patient
with the introduction of STV at some councils. 

He said new systems took time for people to get used to, and he believed
most people would be prepared to wait a few extra hours to get results.
Delays had been caused by a last-minute rush of ballots, rather than
confusion about the system itself. 

Mr Donald said he was also concerned about the low turnout, and the
Electoral Commission should run a comprehensive voter education
programme for both local and central Government elections. 

National's local body spokesman, Nick Smith, said letting councils
select voting systems had led to confusion. National would prefer one
system, based on the one likely to ensure the highest participation. 


Government starts overhaul of voting system 

09.10.2004
12.00pm 

A low voter turnout in today's local body elections has prompted Local
Government Minister Chris Carter to seek a review of the postal voting
system. 

Mr Carter said today he will consult a parliamentary select committee on
reviewing the system and a full review would begin next week. 

"The postal ballot system continues to trend downwards and it's not the
the success we thought it would be. 

"We need to look at other options. Clearly we need to be going in
another direction," he said. 

Postal voting for local body elections began in the 1960s and the system
was universally adopted by 1989. 

Traditionally it encouraged a higher percentage of people to vote than
the system of poll voting, but since 1989 there has been steady drop in
voter participation. 

Mr Carter said today postal voting had become "embarrassingly low". 

Turnout figures range from as low as 26.67 per cent in Waitakere City
where the incumbent mayor Bob Harvey is expected to be returned, to as
high as 57.49 per cent in Waimate district. 

However, the average turnout nationwide as at October 6 was just 39 per
cent. 

"There is always a better turnout when there is a good, competitive
mayoral race, but generally postal votes have been declining," Mr Carter
told NZPA. 

Mr Carter said he had already talked to a parliamentary select
committee, ahead of today's elections. 

"We've been concerned about the decline in voting numbers for some
time." 


Editorial: Rationalise local bodies to raise vote 

12.10.2004

It is to be hoped that the Local Government Minister is not setting
great store by a select committee inquiry into the low turnout at the
local-body elections. If Chris Carter is, he is bound to be
disappointed. Much tinkering with voting systems and procedures over the
years has failed to provide a permanent solution to widespread apathy.
In all likelihood, Parliament's justice and electoral select committee
will come up with another variation on this theme, offering, at best, a
short-term boost in turnout. 

The persistence of the problem indicates its deep-seated nature, as well
as the fact that, short of compulsion, there is no instant panacea.
Given this, Mr Carter would do well to keep the problem in perspective.
He is obviously right to be disappointed that just 44.8 per cent of
voters sent in their postal ballots. And to be vexed, if only because of
the direct impact that local bodies have on our everyday lives. Yet, as
the minister has himself pointed out, declining interest in voting is a
worldwide trend. In that context, the weekend's turnout was not, as Mr
Carter would have it, "embarrassingly low". A similar 46 per cent voted
in the 2002 United States congressional elections. 

New Zealanders, in fact, managed better than that in local body
elections in which candidates and issues attracted their interest. In a
normally apathetic Auckland City, the turnout increased from 42.8 per
cent to 48.3 per cent thanks to the sometimes bitter mayoral dogfight
between John Banks and Dick Hubbard. In other areas, low turnouts owed
much to complacency and a lack of divisive issues. Such was clearly the
case in North Shore (a 34.6 per cent turnout) and Waitakere (35.7 per
cent), where the sitting mayors were returned. The message here is that
candidates, notably the challengers, must inspire voters. 

The answer to apathy in this year's elections was to be the single
transferable vote (STV) system. It failed. In Wellington and Dunedin,
which used STV for the first time, turnout was down significantly from
that under the former first-past-the-post system. Even the contest to
replace Sukhi Turner as mayor in politically alert Dunedin could not
prevent a drop from 56 per cent to 53.6 per cent. Additionally, the
complexities of STV doubtless resulted in more spoiled ballots than
usual. Such would especially have been the case in Auckland, where
voters were asked to rank a multitude of district health board
candidates in order of preference. This ran contrary to one of the
points sure to be made by the select committee inquiry - that the
convenience and simplicity of the voting system is a key to attracting a
good turnout. The more complicated voting is, the less likely are people
to bother. 

The next supposed cure-all, in Mr Carter's eyes at least, seems to be
electronic voting. This would appeal to young people, the lowest
participating group in this and seemingly every local-body election.
Electronic voting, either by telephone or the internet, would indeed be
more convenient, but it is unlikely to offer more than a temporary
fillip, just as postal voting triggered a jump in turnout when it was
introduced in 1989. It would not overcome a dearth of galvanising issues
or candidates, or an unnecessarily complex voting system. Similarly,
more comprehensive voter education would make minimal difference.
Today's school curriculums pay more attention than ever to civic issues.
This has not prompted a widespread rush to vote. 

If Mr Carter is serious about tackling the low turnout, he probably
needs to look at the structure of local government. This country has too
many local bodies - from regional councils through city and district
councils and district health boards to community boards. Further
reorganisation is overdue. One body should oversee Northland, one
Auckland, one Bay of Plenty and so on. Each of these regional bodies
would have more power. Each should, therefore, be worthy of more voter
attention. Orchestrating such a rationalisation is not an easy answer -
but it may be the only realistic one.