A public policy expert is rubbishing calls for online voting saying it isn't the answer to the abysmal voter turnout in this year's local elections.
Local elections were held around the country over the weekend and initial results show a mediocre turnout with a little more than a third of electors casting their votes.
The terrible turnout prompted the Local Government Association to call for an independent review of the system.
The call was echoed by Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern and Opposition leader Christopher Luxon.
It also reignited calls to move voting online in an effort to make it easier for Kiwis to vote. But public policy expert Sarah Bickerton rubbished the idea on Monday telling AM it wouldn't actually solve the problem.
"The major question is, is it the solution you want to solve the problem that you think you have? Dealing with low voter engagement, low voter turnout is a complex issue and understanding what's causing low voter turnout is the important thing not immediately leaping to a shiny new solution," Bickerton said.
"Online voting is one of those things that has been proposed a bunch but it's got some major issues with it, both technical and social that I would say for those of us in the field we normally say, 'Run, run far away from online voting' because it's got too many problems, it may solve some problems but the consequences of it have massive ramifications."
Bickerton said if something goes wrong with an online election it can damage voters' trust in democracy.
"It's not just an issue of security… voting systems rely on the populace trusting their vote will contribute and it will be recorded correctly."
Bickerton instead of moving local elections online, increasing Kiwis understanding of what the local Government actually does would be more effective at engaging voters.
Low voter turnout wasn't just an issue in the cities this year either, with preliminary results showing turnout declined in rural and provincial New Zealand - but overall rates are still higher than in cities.
This year a total of 36 percent of the electorate voted but this is expected to increase as all the ballots cast on the day are counted, Local Government New Zealand said.
Overall urban turnout was down by 1.4 percent to 36.4 percent of potential voters while rural turnout fell a whopping 7.5 percent to 45 percent. Meanwhile, voting in provincial cities dropped 6.5 percent to 40 percent.
Local Government NZ president Stuart Crosby said LGNZ ran a multi-faceted campaign to increase turnout but conceded they always knew it would "take more than one election cycle to turn this around".
"To make a real difference, however, it will require a deliberate effort by councils and communities to better engage with each other in the decisions councils are making, so voters feel more connected to local government, as well as making the process of voting easier," Crosby said in a statement.
