Editorial: Get out and vote this time

Voters can enrol up to the day before September 20.

Fifteen years ago I did something I'm not very proud of.

It's something I'll never do again and I put it down to being young and silly.

I didn't get around to voting.

I was 21 at the time and Saturdays were earmarked for going for out with friends, sleeping in from the Friday night before and hanging out with the flatmates.

Saturday, November 27, 1999, came and went and by the time the day ended, I hadn't made it down to the local school to vote. I didn't think it was a big deal.

My family has always been politically minded (my grandfather, Sir Basil Arthur, was a former Speaker of the House) and the elections each year were always an occasion.

Three years earlier I was able to vote for the first time. My dear old Dad was so excited - he even bought my best friend and I election T-shirts to wear to the polling booth (true story).

After the 1999 elections, I slipped into a conversation with my Dad that I had forgotten to vote.

I'd never seen my father disappointed in me, but this time he certainly was. Naturally I thought he was over-reacting, but now I can understand.

We might think politics is a big waste of time, our vote doesn't count and all politicians are the same. The truth is it isn't, it does and they are not.

It seems my attitude as a 21-year-old is reflected in the latest figures of the number of youngsters not even enrolled to vote. At last count, only 83 per cent of eligible 18 to 24-year-olds in the Rotorua electorate had enrolled (compared with older age groups at over 90 per cent). The first step in getting to the polling booths on election day is to enrol and once you've done that, make sure your voice is heard.

Voters can enrol up to the day before September 20. To enrol freetext your name and address to 3676, visit a PostShop, call (0800) 36 76 56 or see www.elections.org.nz