Here at Renters United we want to fix renting in Aotearoa, but we can’t do that if our voice is diluted in elections.

As you may be aware, there's currently two categories of elector in local government elections: Resident and Ratepayer. We want to change that.

Today we’re launching a petition calling on the Labour-led government to amend the Local Electoral Act 2001 and abolish the Ratepayer Roll.

https://rentersunited.org.nz/ratepayers-roll/

Right now, it’s one rule for renters and another for landlords.

The Ratepayer Roll allows landlords to vote in each council district, local board area, and community board area they own property in. In 2016 one landlord voted in seven separate local elections.

This roll incentivises candidates for local government to unfairly prioritise the views of landlords and property owners over those of low incomes and renters.

We believe that each person’s vote is equally important. We did away with property-based voting rights for national elections in 1893. It’s time that local government caught up.

The ratepayer electoral roll is inherently undemocratic, violating the principle of one person one vote to such an extent that in 2016 one man was eligible to vote in seven different elections. In the current climate of consistently falling homeownership we want to nip this inequality in the bud before it becomes even further exacerbated.

We're of the conviction that the current system unfairly penalises renters while rewarding those who own property in a way which is out of keeping with New Zealand's strongly and long-held egalitarian values.

The very concept of a "ratepayer" electorate is flawed. Landlords do not pay rates, their tenants do through their rents. In central government elections, each individual is entitled to only one vote regardless of any connection to multiple geographical locations. It's time that local government catches up with what central government did in 1893: disestablishing voting entitlements based on property ownership.

We've been encouraged by the support we've already received from candidates running in the various local body elections around Aotearoa. We’d be happy to provide you with the contact details of them or to answer any questions you have around this petition and the ratepayer roll.

Further information:

1:https://www.rnz.co.nz/news/national/392946/archaic-law-allows-multiple-property-owners-extra-voting-rights

https://thespinoff.co.nz/local-elections/01-07-2019/theres-a-land-in-the-south-pacific-where-you-can-vote-based-on-owning-property

Ratepayer Electors Data: https://figure.nz/chart/Jlm0FjKinvsemJC3

Resident Electors Data: https://figure.nz/chart/AvxemOhUivYbRFq3

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