Not voting in local elections is rational: voters need better reasons to engage

Not voting in local elections is rational: voters need better reasons to engage

On the available evidence, more than half of New Zealand voters think the effort to vote in local elections is unlikely to be worth the return.

Not voting in local elections is rational. Voters need better reasons to engage

With less than a week until voting in local elections closes, it seems early voter turnout may have increased compared to 2022 – up from 10% of eligible voters to about 18% at the same stage this year. Still, the final turnout will likely be within the expected range – around 45% across New Zealand, with maybe 35% in Auckland (where the mayoral race had attracted only 10% of eligible voters by late September). Cue commentators diagnosing the imm…