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| February 2003 |
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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. |