Electoral Enrolment Centre Amazed at Ignorance About Local Elections

One week into the enrolment drive for the local elections and the Electoral Enrolment Centre has released research showing two out of three people don’t know when the elections are and one in three doesn’t know how to cast their vote.

“The level of ignorance about the local council and district health board elections is incredible,” says Murray Wicks, National Manager of the Electoral Enrolment Centre. “Now our enrolment drive is underway we would expect awareness of the elections, and the fact that voting papers get sent in the mail to those correctly enrolled, to have improved.”

The Electoral Enrolment Centre has completed the delivery of enrolment update packs to almost three million people as part of the enrolment campaign.

“Two thirds of the people surveyed just before the enrolment drive started didn’t know there were local elections this year and when told when the elections were, one in three thought they voted at a polling place,” says Mr Wicks.

“This year is local election year, and council and district health board voting papers will be sent in the mail to those people correctly enrolled,” says Mr Wicks. “Voting is by postal vote, which makes being correctly enrolled crucial.

“We are currently working to get as many people as possible enrolled. This is a must do for all those people who didn’t get an enrolment update pack in the mail last week,” says Mr Wicks.

Enrolment forms are available from the elections website www.elections.org.nz, by free texting your name and address to 3676, from any PostShop or by calling 0800 ENROL NOW (0800 36 76 56). You can also check your details and enrol online at the website.

The research shows:
• 66 percent of people surveyed either didn’t know when the local elections were (47 percent) or thought they were next year or the year after (19 percent).
• 2 percent knew the local elections ended on 9 October.
• 16 percent thought the local elections were some time in October.
• 60 percent knew that voting papers would be sent to them in the mail.
• 29 percent thought they needed to go to a polling place to vote.

The council and district health board elections run from Friday 17 September until midday Saturday 9 October 2010.

View vox pops:
• When do you think the local elections are? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eMBCeSEwxdY&feature=email
• How do you get to vote? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UR5odVzHBNc&feature=email

The survey carried out by Research New Zealand of 474 people aged 18 years or over in the last week of June has a margin of error of +/-6.2 percent.

A copy of the research results is available here www.elections.org.nz/study/news/eec-amazed-at-ignorance

ENDS

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