Statistics tell us that 77% of eligible people voted at this year’s general election. This means that 23% did not vote. It seems hard to understand that almost a quarter of voters do not see the relevance and significance of casting their vote. In this hi-tech age it would seem that getting the message to these people would be increasingly more effective. It is strange however that in 1989 only 11% did not vote. Is this to be an increasing trend in the future? If it is then we should all be very concerned as surly this is the very heart of our democratic system. With out an expensive and exhaustive inquiry into why almost a quarter of our people did not vote we can only speculate. Perhaps some aspiring Masters student could look at this for their thesis or as part of a political assignment.
Is this part of the declining values that seem to be across all sectors of our society? Has the search for the dollar become so all consuming that some people can not even take a few minutes out to cast a vote?
I only have the odd new idea but there is always plenty of other stuff
I don’t think you should assume that the 23% who did not vote have no interest in the election or its outcome or are to apathetic to vote. Abstention is a perfectly valid expression of a lack of confidence in all the candidates/parties, and slightly less expensive than spoiling your ballot.
Having said that: Having been outside New Zealand for longer than three years, I’m not allowed to vote. So count me in neither the 77% who voted nor the 23% who did not.
I am sure there are some people who have a lack of confidence in all candidates/parties. . . . . . . is this also lack of confidence in the system? How big is this group?
I don’t think a lack of confidence in all candidates/parties necessarily equals a lack of confidence in the system itself. I, for one, have a reasonable amount of confidence in New Zealand’s system. It’s far from perfect (but what system ever is?), but it gets the job done. I could, if I were still allowed to vote, pick a party to vote for, but very much on a “best of a bad bunch” basis. I have no idea how to measure the size of any of these groups.