Your council is responsible for many of the things you love about your neighbourhood – and the stuff that pisses you off, says Re: News journalist Janhavi Gosavi who's on a mission to convince you to care about the local elections.
Not sure if you’re going to vote? Here's why you should - watch on TVNZ+
In case it'd passed you by, local body elections are happening right now. Voting papers are being mailed out and you have until October 11 to vote for your local, district and regional councillors. This year, you also get to weigh in on whether you want to keep your local Māori ward - if you have one.
But local elections don’t have the best turnout. Only 42% of voters turned out for the 2022 poll, according to the Department of Internal Affairs.
Councils responsible for the places and spaces you use
Mad about your buses being late? Councils typically manage public transport.
Feeling unsafe on the streets? Councils are usually responsible for city safety, as well as maintaining roads and managing traffic.
From public toilets and traffic lights to libraries and rubbish collection, your councils look after a lot of infrastructure that impacts your day-to-day life.
Getting young people to care about local democracy
Ethan Reille is the chair of Social Change Collective, a youth advocacy group which hosted an event called Re-imagine Pōneke to get young Wellingtonians talking about local democracy.
The 21-year-old says young people do want a say in local issues, but he believes youth advisory groups and youth councils “just feel like tokenistic roles” which do not have decision-making power.
“The best possible way for you to engage in local elections is to vote.”
Ethan says councils also have a habit of using language which does not make sense to young people and makes it harder for them to engage – phrases like “red tape” and “long-term plan”.
He says the young people most likely to vote in local elections are those who have the means to do so, such as those who have had a good education, have studied politics and have a stable income.
“The people we need to be encouraging to vote are those holding down two jobs, struggling to pay rent, just trying to get by. Those are the people who need to be shaping the decisions that impact us the most.”
Postal voting has reached end-of-life – expert
Luke Oldfield is a political scientist at Victoria University of Wellington and believes the postal voting system used for local elections is making voting inaccessible.
“When I speak to young people, some will tell me they have never posted anything in their lives,” he says.
Oldfield says “people are time-poor in 2025” and even if someone puts in the effort to become educated about their local candidates and decides who to vote for, the prospect of driving around looking for a mailbox could result in their votes not being posted.
He says there are a few ways voting could look different in the future.
One option is for local council elections to offer online voting, the same way that central government elections do.
This option has positives and negatives, but it could remove barriers to voting, Oldfield says.
Another option could be to bundle local and central government elections together.
“Turnout is much higher for central government elections. And so why not just give them another form then?”
Still not convinced? Watch the case for why you should vote on TVNZ+
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