Youth enrolment gap puts focus on Pacific young voters ahead of new October deadline

About 90 per cent of eligible voters are now enrolled for New Zealand’s November election, Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith says, but more than 188,000 young people are still off the roll as the new enrolment deadline approaches.

The Electoral Commission estimates about 200,000 people aged 18 to 24 are not enrolled, while youth campaign On a Roll says more than 188,000 young people remain unenrolled.

Goldsmith told reporters at Parliament this week the latest figure he had seen was about 90 per cent, around one percentage point ahead of the same stage before the last election.

“We're going for the highest enrolments that we possibly can. It is the law for people to be enrolled, and so we encourage everybody to get enrolled as quickly as they can.”

He said the Government was giving the Electoral Commission extra resources to lift enrolment.

“Ultimately, enrolment rates fluctuate between elections, but we're going as fast as we can and we're giving the Electoral Commission extra resources to get as many people enrolled.”

“We're going for the highest enrolments that we possibly can. It is the law for people to be enrolled, and so we encourage everybody to get enrolled as quickly as they can.” Photo/RNZ/Samuel Rillstone

The push comes as the rules around enrolment change for this election.

For the first time, voters must be enrolled before advance voting starts. The final deadline is midnight on 25 October, with advance voting opening the following day. People who are not enrolled by then will not be able to enrol at a voting place.

On a Roll is spending the next five weeks taking its enrolment message directly to young people at gigs, sports games and skate parks, rather than traditional political events.

Listen to Ethan Reille's full interview below.

Ethan Reille, a campaign representative, says the group is deliberately focused on enrolment instead of telling young people how to vote.

“We don’t talk to young people about politics or political issues, that’s theirs to own, but we’re meeting them right at the beginning and that is really about enrolment,” he told William Terite on Pacific Mornings.

More than 16,000 young people enrolled in August, Reille says, but he believes the message needs to reach more young people before the deadline.

For Pacific youth, he says the change could be easy to miss because enrolling and voting have previously happened together.

“It’s been so streamlined in the past, and this time around the rules have changed and the goalposts have shifted,” he says.

He says enrolling takes about two minutes online using a New Zealand driver licence, passport or RealMe, while a paper form can also be used without ID. The Electoral Commission confirms voters can enrol online or use a paper form.

Listen to Stacey Kokaua's full interview below.

Stacey Kokaua, University of Otago research fellow, who works with Pacific students and communities in Dunedin, says Pasifika should not be viewed simply as politically disengaged.

“They have, or they can have, quite strong political views... whether they consider them political views is a different thing,” Kokaua says.

She says cost-of-living pressure and a feeling that one vote will not make much difference can also affect whether young people engage with elections.

“I don’t think there’s enough education for our young people to understand the power they have,” she says.

Kokaua says family and community connections are likely to play an important role in reaching Pacific youth before 25 October.

“Any initiative that builds youth voting will come from youth and their specific interests,” she says.

On a Roll rangatahi, work with you to ensure they enroll to vote before October 25. Photo/Supplied/On a Roll

The Government has said it is ahead of the enrolment rate at the same point in the previous election cycle.

But Minister Goldsmith said he did not know whether the rate would change before the deadline.

“I don't know. We're ahead of where we were last time, so that's good news.”