It’s voting time here in Auckland! The local body elections give us an opportunity to elect the mayor, councillors, local board members, and District Health Board (DHB) members who will lead Tāmaki Makaurau for the next three years.
The types of decisions these elected officials make will often intersect with the very subjects that we research as postgrad students: public transport, water quality, city planning, public spaces, recreational activities, local health initiatives, and much more. This is our chance to decide who should make those decisions.
AUT has a number of ways to help staff and students vote.
Firstly, if you already have your voting papers sorted and filled out, you can save yourself a trip to the post office by popping your orange envelope in any AUT internal mail bag by Tuesday 8 October. Our mail distribution centre will make sure that your envelope gets to NZ Post.
Secondly, if you’re not enrolled to vote, you can enrol and vote at the same time through the One Stop Shop initiative. In partnership with Auckland Council, AUT will have a booth available on Thursday 10 October 12-4pm at Hikuwai Plaza on the City Campus. Just turn up there, and the friendly team will help you to enrol, vote, and submit your forms all in the one place.
You can find more information about these elections, including the candidates in your area, through the Auckland Council elections website. You can also check whether you are eligible to vote at the NZ Electoral Commission’s website.
And if you’re having trouble choosing who to vote for, try the Policy Local tool from the journalists at The Spinoff. It allows you to compare candidates’ policy positions on a variety of topics in a consistent format.
However you choose to vote, just make sure that your papers are in by the deadline of midday, Saturday 12 October. That means posting by Tuesday 8 October; or if you’ve really left it to the last minute, you can drop your voting papers off at any Auckland public library or service centre right up to the deadline.
Happy voting!
