Electoral Commission submission to the Justice and Electoral Committee

Inquiry into the 2004 Local Authority Elections

1.     The Electoral Commission is an Independent Crown Entity whose statutory functions, as set out in the Electoral Act 1993, are confined to parliamentary elections.  One function is 'to promote public awareness of electoral matters by means of the conduct of education and information programmes or by other means'.

2.     Comment is on the following items from the Inquiry terms of reference

2. Participation and elector turnout

...

Identify the approach of local authorities and others in New Zealand and overseas in encouraging elector turnout, and the effectiveness of those approaches; 

...

Consider whether the public information (including advertising) for electors was adequate, and whether one agency should be responsible for all voter education;

....

Assess whether a school civics education programme might affect election turnouts and encourage greater participation in our democracy.

3.     The Electoral Commission will not comment on the effectiveness of the information campaigns at the 2004 local body elections as it has no statutory role to audit or assess other electoral agencies.

4.     However, as the terms of reference raise the question of one agency being responsible for all voter education, the Electoral Commission wishes to indicate support for this idea and that the Electoral Commission is an appropriate body for such a role.

Recommendation  

5.     Adopt recommendation 11 from the Inquiry into the 1999 General Election:

That the responsibilities of the Electoral Commission be extended and its funding increased, so that it is able to effectively promote election turnout and electoral system understanding at general and local elections ...

We suggest the minor amendment of replacing 'turnout' with 'participation'.

Background to Recommendation

6.     International research indicates that election turnout levels are primarily related to motivational factors[1] rather than to the particular details of running an election.  People are more or less disposed to vote because of their views on politics broadly, belief in their own ability to make a difference, and their understanding of the ways in which the decisions of the elected bodies can affect them.  Indications are that a propensity to participate in elections is habit forming and that fewer young people are acquiring the habit than was the case a generation ago. 

7.     Therefore attempts to increase turnout need to change attitudes towards politics in general rather than a specific election.  Based on research into voter and non-voter motivation, the UK Electoral Commission recently ran TV advertisements on the theme 'if you don't do politics what do you do?"[2].

8.     As voting is an acquired habit then successful campaigns to make younger people interested in politics will have a long term effect on participation levels.  Given that understanding of the political system is an important component of voter motivation then a compulsory civics component in primary curriculum seems appropriate.

9.     The above observations suggest that campaigns to encourage turnout need to be based on broad understanding of the reasons for participation in politics; to not be focussed on an election; and to target new voters.  Such campaigns would most sensibly be orchestrated from one agency rather than across a number of agencies.

10.    A broader role to encourage participation would fit alongside the existing 'education and information about electoral matters' role of the Electoral Commission.

11.    As well as campaigns aimed at changing motivation, information about particular election systems is important.  For those who have already decided to vote then, in order to cast an effective vote, voters need to understand the ways in which their vote is counted and the impact that it can have on the result. 

12.    Understanding the ways in which your vote counts in a particular electoral system can also help motivation to vote. If voters think that their vote can make a difference to the result then they are more likely to vote.  For a particular electoral system to have an impact on turnout then potential voters need to understand the way in which their votes will be counted.  Arguments that PR systems increase voter turnout depend upon voters understanding the ways in which their vote impacts on the result.

13.    The Electoral Commission is well placed to take on the role of education and information on all electoral systems being used.  It has experience in conducting information campaigns on the workings of MMP.  It also, uniquely, has the requisite mix of expertise in how electoral systems work, theories on voter motivation, and public communications. 

14.    If one agency were to be responsible for all electoral system understanding then there would be opportunities for integration in the campaigns, for economies of scale, and for a smoothing of the work cycle of the agency.

15.    Giving the Electoral Commission the responsibility to promote both electoral participation and electoral system understanding would make effective use of the existing expertise and experience and enable an integrated approach. As an independent crown entity, the Electoral Commission can provide public information on democracy and motivation campaigns that are perceived to be separate from party and government influence.

Oral Submission and contact details

16.    The Electoral Commission would like to make an oral submission.

Contact details are: telephone 04 474 0676; email catt@elections.govt.nz

This submission has been approved by the Electoral Commission, of which I am the Chief Executive

Signed, Helena Catt (Dr)

Chief Executive of the Electoral Commission

23 February 2005

[1] A number of reports by the UK Electoral Commission can be found on http://www.electoralcommission.org.uk/about-us/researchpub.cfm

Canadian reports can be found on http://www.elections.ca/loi/tur/tuh/TurnoutHigher.pdf

 and http://www.elections.ca/loi/tur/tud/TurnoutDecline.pdf

[2] A report on the UK campaign can be found at http://www.electoralcommission.gov.uk/templates/search/document.cfm/10987