Miserable local election turnout accelerates online voting plans

Local Government  Minister Chris Tremain - who has formerly said the government will experiment with online voting at the next local council elections - is now looking at going the whole hog.

Mr Tremain says he will be instructing a working party to explore what would be needed for online voting to be fully introduced in the next local  body elections.

Miserable turnout has spurred the re-think.

Voter turnout at the 2013 election was the lowest ever recorded with a projected figure of around 40 percent.  Final results will be confirmed by Local Government New Zealand on Thursday.

“Figures as far back as 1962 (see graphic righ) show voter turnout at local body elections are traditionally low but I am concerned that it is on a slow decline,” says Mr Tremain.

“A large number of people work from smart phones and online voting is definitely the way of the future. However there are risks involved in transferring to an online system, so it is important we clearly understand those risks before making any final decision. Accessibility for all voters is a critical consideration in any move forward.

“The government has invested in online verification technology, RealMe, which will enable secure authentication of a person’s identity for online voting," the minister said in a reference to the ID system recently developed by NZ Post and the Department of Internal Affairs, and deployed by the Companies Office.

Significant trial needed before 2016 elections
“The working party, which was announced before the recent local body elections, is being tasked with establishing the technical, financial, and security issues involved in online voting.  In addition I will now ask them to explore the possibility of having full online voting available at the next local body elections.  A condition of this must be that an opportunity exists for a significant trial before 2016."

The minister is also looking at lower tech reasons for low turnout.

“I will also be inviting the Justice and Electoral Committee, who conduct reviews of local and national elections, to investigate other initiatives that will lift voter turnout," he says.

“Part of this will be considering the confusion created by the single transferable voting system especially when voters are presented with two voting systems on the same voting papers. Another issue that has been raised, post the elections, has been the three week voting timeframe, so it would be timely to consider this as well.

“Online voting will give people more choice but on its own will not solve low voter turnout.”