By September this year, the Far North District council must decide between two alternative processes for the next local government elections in 2022. Do they vote to keep the status quo, the current first past the post electoral 'race,' or do they follow the lead of 11 progressive councils last year, and adopt the single transferable voting system?
STV uses a preference system of voting: rank as many candidates as you want. It's as simple as writing down your favourite colour and then your second favourite colour and so on. There's no need to list every colour, just as you needn't rank all candidates. We already use it for the Northland District Health Board election. It's a fairer, more democratic system, where most voters have a stake in the results since their preferences are taken into account. As Professor Priya Kurian, political science and public policy lecturer at the University of Waikato points out, "STV's ability to better reflect the will of the entire voting population means it's more likely to produce councils that look like the communities they represent."
Locals I speak with believe a change to STV is well overdue. It's common knowledge that in last year's elections, the votes of the majority of citizens were wasted: our current Mayor received only 29 per cent of the vote, while in some wards, elected councillors and community board members 'won' with only 10 or 11 per cent of total votes.
We expect our elected leaders to go into battle on issues that matter to us. When we identify with councillors and community board members, we find it easier to trust they have indeed 'got our back.' And it's a two-way relationship. For our council, whose services are spread thinly over a vast area, collaboration with the general public and the support of local residents is essential. Having a more diverse council will lessen the risk of offending citizens by not understanding their needs and perspectives.
Take the current uproar in Far North communities about the actions of Far North Holdings Ltd. Furious local citizens of Russell, Ōpua and Rangitane view the lack of transparency and consultation over wide-sweeping actions of FNHL as outrageous. An apparent disregard for the council's legislated responsibility to 'promote the social, economic, environmental and cultural wellbeing of communities in the present and the future' has grown into distrust of our district council and a polarised 'us vs them' approach.
