Tuesday, Oct 4, 2016
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Denise Matheson Has voted.
Lois Alexander Has voted.
Les McPherson Has voted.
Kevin Bushell Has voted.
Jackie Boulton Hasn’t voted but intends to.
Abby Calder Hasn’t voted but intends to.
Stefan Protheroe Won’t be voting; not interested.
Adam Kershaw Won’t be voting, not interested.
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■ LOCAL BODY ELECTIONS
Spring clean for beach P4
Older voters lead the voting charge BY SUE NEWMAN
SUE.N@THEGUARDIAN.CO.NZ
Sharing his secrets P18
Ashburton might have one of the highest return rates for ballot papers in this year’s local body elections, but that could have everything to do with its highly engaged older voters. With just one week until voting closes, 31.20 per cent of ballot papers have been completed and returned, well ahead of almost every other territorial local authority in the South Island. That return rate equates to 6794 out of 21,774 ballot papers and is marginally below Timaru on 31.85 per cent. When the Guardian went out on the street yesterday, those who had voted and those who had not, often came down to gender and age. The least engaged voters were younger men. Several spoken to said they hadn’t voted and didn’t intend to vote. Their reasons were simple – they
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weren’t interested in local body politics, believing that the decisions made around the council table had little impact on their lives. Most said local body politics were not something they or their mates spent much time discussing. Younger women were more interested and while some did not intend to vote, others said they either had already done so, or would be doing so this week. One young woman, however, said she hadn’t taken the time to enrol. When asked about the issues that were of greatest concern going into the election, the answers were varied. Some said they didn’t like the way rates where spent on things without enough consultation, others said they wanted the council to provide more things for young people to do. A ten pin bowling alley was high on the list. One said he wanted the council to focus on moving the railway line out of
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central Ashburton, while some said they were happy with the way the district was ticking over and didn’t see the need for change. Many of those who had already returned their ballot papers said they always voted and believed it was their civic duty to do so. If you don’t vote you can’t complain, some people said. One mum was disappointed to find her twins turned 18 the day after voting closed. Both were interested in the voting process and she involved them in the voting process and discussions about candidates so they’d be informed voters in 2019. A ballot box will be available at the Ashburton District Council’s office until noon on Saturday, but for people planning to return their ballot papers through the post, these should be in the mail tomorrow.
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