Tony Ryall MP
National Party Health Spokesman

06 July 2007

What’s in a name? Quite a lot it seems!

National Party Health spokesman Tony Ryall is calling for a shake-up in the way some District Health Boards put together their ballot papers for elections.

“Analysis by the Otago District Health Board shows that where DHB candidates are listed alphabetically, the A’s have more chance of being elected than the Q-Z’s. In fact, twice the chance!”

“Clearly this is a worry. We need to ensure we have the best people on our boards making wise decisions about how they allocate health dollars in their areas. Those people shouldn’t be elected simply because their name is at the top of the list.”

Mr Ryall says all DHBs should consider listing candidates in a random order on papers.

“During the last DHB elections five boards used a random order while 16 used an alphabetical listing.”

The analysis shows those with a name that is close to the front of the alphabet have almost twice as much chance of being elected.

“The research shows Atholl the Aardvark is a more winnable candidate than Rocky the Racoon, simply because of his name.”

Mr Ryall says a randomised order would be fairer on candidates when there is a large number of candidates.

“Perhaps most alarming, is that the patterns suggest many voters aren’t being encouraged to engage in the health debate at a local level. They don’t know who the candidates are and many don’t care.

“Yet it is the District Health Boards which are being increasingly called on to deliver Government policy and we desperately need good people who are prepared to stand up for patients.”

ENDS

Reporters note: The analysis was done by Richard Thomson the Chair of the ODHB, and was presented to a board meeting in early May 2007- 5 pages attached.

Ryall - DHB Ballot Papers.pdf

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