MEDIA RELEASE

Strong interest in Kids Voting initiative

5 October 2007

It’s not only adults who are considering who to support in the current local elections. Many younger citizens are thinking about who they will vote for. Close to 17,000 students nationwide will have their say on the elections, thanks to a new initiative being offered to schools.

‘Kids Voting’ is an opportunity for the voters and leaders of the future to understand the voting process. The Year 9 students will take part in an authentic voting experience and will vote for real candidates, on a replica voting document. Kids Voting aims to encourage the voting habit among young people so that they are more likely to vote when they turn 18 and will continue to vote.

“In New Zealand, as in most developed democracies, voter turnout is falling and levels of political engagement are low. Research has shown that building first-hand experience of active participation at an early age increases personal understanding, belief and confidence in electoral participation,” says Victoria Owen, Senior Policy Analyst, Local Government New Zealand.

Kids Voting has been run successfully in Auckland City since 2001 and is now being rolled out nationally for the first time. The programme is designed to fit with the social sciences curriculum and to raise awareness of New Zealand’s electoral processes among young people.

Each of the 115 schools registered is provided replicas of the voting document that will be issued to adult electors in the same area. Students research who they will vote for and why. Classes will conduct an election in the week prior to the close of the adult vote on Saturday 13 October. Student results will be counted on Monday 15 October (after the adult election results have been released). Results from each school are sent to the national co-ordinator, who then provides reports on the results of the Kids Voting election across New Zealand.

Many councils have been working closely with their local schools to create exciting initiatives that bring Kids Voting to life. Otorohanga College students attended an information session to find out more about what their district council does. About 74 students were involved in the sessions, which included a bus trip around Otorohanga, a guided tour through the council’s premises and presentations by council members and key staff – paving the way for valuable interaction between schools and councils.

Some enterprising schools are taking the opportunity to quiz their local candidates on their policy stances. Waitaki Girls’ High School students fired questions at the Mayoral and Oamaru ward candidates to help them decide who should make the cut. About 250 students in New Plymouth District will next week hear from 19 candidates who are standing for the Mayoralty, City and South-West wards, where the four participating schools come from.
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Local Government New Zealand is the national voice of all 85 councils of New Zealand.

For more information and a list of the schools who are participating in Kids Voting, contact

Kids Voting is part of the Growing Active Citizens project, co-ordinated by Local Government New Zealand with support from a range of central and local government partners. The project aims to increase active participation in decision making locally, regionally and nationally by developing a range of resources to support citizenship education for young people in schools.

Kids Voting is proudly supported by New Zealand Post.

44 Councils across New Zealand are taking part in Kids Voting and supporting their local schools to make Kids Voting real.

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