1 in 4 Young People May Miss Out on the Chance To Vote
One in four young people will lose the chance to have their say if they fail to enrol for the 26 November General Election and Referendum on the Voting System.
“With only a few weeks to go before the rolls close for printing, over 120,000 18-24 year olds and 57,000 people aged 25-29 still need to enrol,” says Murray Wicks, National Manager of the Electoral Enrolment Centre.
“By not enrolling or taking part they’re putting decisions about their future into the hands of others.”
People aged 18 and over are required by law to enrol if they are a New Zealand citizen, or if they have permanent residency and have lived in the country for one year at some point. It is not compulsory to vote but it is compulsory to enrol.
“We are urging young people to get enrolled as soon as possible to ensure they receive an EasyVote pack closer to Election Day, which will give them all the information they need to vote in the general election and referendum,” says Mr Wicks.
Electoral staff are hard at work in communities nationwide, working to improve the statistics and get under-30s enrolled. Field workers will be at community events, shopping centres, street corners and even going door to door over the next few weeks making it easy for people to get enrolled.
“Don’t miss out,” says Mr Wicks. “Enrolling is easy. You can even do it via our Facebook page www.facebook.com/IVoteNZ.”
People can get an enrolment form by Freetexting their name and address to 3676, going online to www.elections.org.nz, calling 0800 36 76 56 or picking one up from a PostShop.