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Christchurch City Scene
February 2003

Lead Stories

Voting poll on the way

Lots of wins when we work together

Pipeline update

Go easy on water

 

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Voting poll on the way


Christchurch people will soon be sent information and voting papers about which electoral system they want for future Christchurch City elections. The choice is between the current First Past the Post (FPP) system and a preferential system called Single Transferable Voting (STV).

The voting papers will be posted out in mid- March, says Max Robertson, the City Council Electoral Officer. Voters must send their voting papers back to the Council before 12 noon on Saturday, 5 April. It is a simple majority decision: whichever electoral system gets the most votes will be used for the 2004 and 2007 Mayoral, City Council and Community Board elections, and any associated by-elections.

Christchurch will be the second of the country’s large cities to put the issue to a vote.Wellington late last year narrowly voted in favour of a change to STV. In that vote, fewer than four in 10 registered voters took part and, of those, just over half favoured STV.

Voters in several other cities and districts (including Dunedin, Nelson and Banks Peninsula) are now, or soon will be, taking part in similar polls as a result of petitions.

The Single Transferable Voting system has come into consideration because of a change in the law under which local government operates. The Government decided that councils should now regularly review their electoral systems and give voters an opportunity to decide if a change is needed.

Last year the Christchurch City Council decided it did not favour change. It had earlier circulated information about the STV voting system and asked for people’s opinions. The Council’s vote was close — 13-12. At the time of the vote the Council decided it would conduct a poll on electoral systems as part of the 2004 elections.

After that decision, a local group which disagreed with the Council’s decision began collecting signatures for a petition to force a poll.

Under the law if 5 per cent of voters (in Christchurch, that’s about 11,000 people) ask for a poll, the Council is bound to hold one. That petition was presented just before Christmas, and it was found to contain enough signatures to require a poll to be held.

  • More information about local body electoral systems is available on a Department of Internal Affairs website, at www.stv.govt.nz
  • Earlier City Scene stories with background information about STV is available on the City Council website, at www.ccc.govt.nz/CityScene/2002/August/
This page is not a current Christchurch City Council document. Please read our disclaimer.
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