Kids Get to Have Their Say in Election

The power of the ballot box will be in the hands of hundreds of high school children next week as they take part in the Kids Voting project.


Year nine students from three high schools and one kura kaupapa in New Plymouth District are involved in this national initiative to improve understanding of local government’s role in communities and increase voter participation in future elections.

“The students will take part in their own voting process, including having their own Registrar of Electors and vote counters, and their votes will be compared with the results of the local bodies’ election,” says NPDC Manager Community Development Bry Kopu.

“Our ultimate aim is to get more people voting in local bodies’ elections when they are old enough to get onto the electoral roll.”

Kids Voting has been running in Auckland for the last five years. This is the first time it has been run nationally.

Next Tuesday (9 Ooctober), candidates standing for election to New Plymouth District Council will get the chance to speak directly to the students taking part in Kids Voting.

About 250 students from Spotswood College, Sacred Heart Girls’ College, Te Pi'ipi'inga Kakano Mai I Rangiatea Kura Kaupapa Maori and Coastal Taranaki School will get to hear from 19 candidates who are standing for the Mayoralty, City and South-West wards, where the four participating schools come from.

“It’s the first time in New Zealand that council candidates have spoken to students involved in Kids Voting, which is a great idea because the students will get the chance to ask them questions on issues that are important to them,” says Bry.

“Hopefully we’ll also see our young people inspired to talk to councillors after the election and get involved in local government processes even before they’re eligible to enrol as voters.”

When the students have voted at their schools, the results will be tallied by students and teachers and the results sent to a national coordinator to be compared with the electoral votes around the country. The results of those comparisons will be available a couple of weeks after the electoral vote closes on Saturday 13 October.

More information about Kids Voting is available from www.kidsvoting.org.nz.