Bella Craig
Reporter
Young
people in Auckland’s new Henderson electorate say more needs
to be done to encourage them that their vote
matters.
The electorate has been reformed with new
boundaries – covering Henderson, Rānui, Swanson, Lincoln,
Massey, Western Heights, and parts of Te Atatū and Upper
Harbour.
Just 56 percent of those aged 18 to 24 years
old are enrolled to vote in the electorate, compared to 62
percent nationally.
The Green’s Alika Wells,
Opportunity’s Almo Wong, the National Party’s Angee
Nicholas, independent Kay Luv and ACT’s Nick Peirce, all in
the running to become Henderson’s local MP.
Also in
the running is Labour’s Phil Twyford, who’s been the MP for
the old Te Atatū electorate since 2011.
Checkpoint
spoke to some young people who live in the
electorate.
They said the enrolment rates were low
because many felt disenfranchised.
Another said,
“Maybe because some of us just don’t really care about
politics these days. And we don’t really know anything about
it.”
For the issues most important for young people
ahead of the election..at the top of the list was
unemployment.
Henderson local Fred said many of his
friends have been struggling to find work in
Auckland.
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“To be honest, employment, it’s like, really
hard to find a job. I was lucky, you know. I managed to get
a job with the Defence Force, but not everybody’s this
lucky, so [there’s] heaps of unemployed. A lot of my mates
as well, some lost their jobs, some can’t even get a
job.”
Nursing student Angie said high unemployment
rates made her feel uneasy.
“I’ve studying nursing and
I’m thinking about like how right now there’s not a lot of
jobs going around.”
Others told Checkpoint the
cost of living was what they were most worried
about.
“I’m poor each day. It’s just a struggle to get
by each week … I’m a student.
“With gas and just
especially groceries, everything’s pretty much
skyrocketing.”
Those Checkpoint spoke to also
said politicians are failing to engage with young
people.
Fred said he was reminded to enrol to vote by
his parents.
“For young people finding it hard to vote
it’s just lack of word. Not a lot of people are hearing
about it. I think that’s what’s holding young people
back.”
“I feel like it would be better if, say,
16-year-olds were able to vote just early on. I don’t think
there’s anything wrong with that adherently,” another
said.
Another said, “At least if it was just talked
about more because I think [for] a lot of people it’s just
really overwhelming or a really daunting thing to like get
into.”
But they all agreed, that more needed to be
done in encouraging young people that their vote
matters.
The overall enrolment rate is at 91 percent,
but for young people aged 18 to 24 it is just over 62
percent.
In 2023, 77 percent of people aged 18 to 24
were enrolled to vote.
Last week, the Electoral
Commission’s Karl le Quesne told RNZ the Electoral
Commission had been visiting schools to try and get the
enrolment rate up.
They had also been working with
community groups and youth groups.
“We’d like it to be
a lot higher,” he said.
The 2026 general election will
be held on 7 November.
Under the new rules, eligible
voters must enrol or update their details by midnight on 25
October to vote, with voting places opening for advance
voting on 26 October.
People who are not enrolled by
the deadline will not be able to vote in the
election.
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