Lawrence Kirby says one of his goals for this election campaign, apart from the obvious one of getting elected, is to help increase the number of people who vote in the Kāpiti election.
Mr Kirby, who is standing for a Districtwide seat on the Kāpiti Council, says at the last Council election in 2019, only 46% of eligible voters voted.
“So over half of us didn’t vote at all. In my mind that means that the majority of us didn’t have a voice at the last election. That to me is very concerning
“I personally believe that it is both a privilege and a responsibility to vote in an election. Our ancestors fought hard for everyone to have a say in how our country, city, and district is governed. That’s not even considering that ‘Council’ get to take our money via rates and spend it – surely we want to make sure ‘Council’ are, at the very least, sensible,” says Mr Kirby.
He says in his very unscientific research, of talking to friends and people he has met, he has found there are a few common barriers to people voting.
- Why should I vote? What’s the point, they don’t listen anyway.
- I don’t know any of the people standing.
- I don’t understand how it all works (that could be either Council or the election).
- It’s all too hard.
“I want to try and help remove those barriers or at least lessen them during this campaign. How are you going to do that – I hear you ask… well in a few ways:
1) By encouraging you to get involved – speak to your friends, family, colleagues about the election. I know we’re not meant to talk about politics or religion but why not do something courageous and ask questions, make comments, talk about why voting is important.
2) I’ve posted a two part video about the election on my website, YouTube and social media. If you could share them with others, we can get more people engaged this election.
3) I’m going to be out and about during the campaign. If you see me, come and say hello then you’ll be able to say ‘I know someone who is standing’.
Mr Kirby says “Let’s work together and make this election better by getting more people expressing their voice through their vote.”
YouTube Links:
Election Part 1: https://youtu.be/M2fPKGxSGjI
Election Part 2: https://youtu.be/kdyq7kKvPLo