STV Dunedin Launches Campaign

A campaign group has been established in Dunedin to educate the public about the benefits of the Single Transferable Voting (STV) system, which will be put to the vote in a referendum from March 14th to April 4th in Dunedin this year.

‘STV Dunedin’ will launch its public information campaign tomorrow, which will be attended by long-time electoral reform campaigner, Greens Co-Leader Rod Donald. Mr Donald and members of the campaign team will be walking through the city centre between 10 and 11 am tomorrow with leaflets and stickers, talking to the public about the benefits of the STV voting system.

STV Dunedin spokesperson Sam Huggard said many in the campaign group were involved in the successful petition signature gathering campaign last year.

“We were very heartened by the positive response we got from Dunedin city residents with the petition gathering campaign. We needed 4100 signatures to trigger a referendum, but ended up turning in over 7,000 to the Dunedin City Council.”

“Last year our goal was to give the public the choice over which voting system we use for our local body politicians. This year we want to give the public informed choice, and are campaigning around the benefits of STV,” said Sam Huggard.

In addition to the launch with Rod Donald tomorrow, STV Dunedin are organising:

* a city wide leaflet drop informing voters on the benefits of STV * regular stalls at shopping sites and festivals * A fund-raising Quiz night event on March 8th, with Dunedin North MP Pete Hodgson

“Another focus for the group in the coming week will be identifying any additional supporters of STV. We are actively looking for volunteers to help with leafleting, and donations to cover the cost of a city wide information pamphlet.” said Sam Huggard.

© Scoop Media