Ka Pai Kaiti facilitated a project to increase voter turnout and participation in the local council and district health board elections in Gisborne 2010.
The purpose of research project was to:
– Engage with local issues/aspirations
– Act independently in terms of community aspirations
– Lead positive change
– Connect people to achieve a greater voice and visibility.
The first phase of this project was to review existing research and literature for effective strategies on registering, mobilising and educating citizens from communities with low participation in local body elections.
The second part of the project entailed face-to-face engagement approach. . A voter canvasser visited each target household on two occasions. The first visit focussed on ensuring that everyone who was eligible to vote was enrolled to vote. During the second visit voter canvasser’s talked about the three distinct elections for Mayor, Councillors and DHB members, the two different voting methods of first past the post and single transferable vote and finally where to find out more information. A community election event was also held in each neighbourhood during the actual election period. NZ Post provided a secure street receiver or post box at each event so that people could bring their completed voting papers along and post them.
In December 2010 the Project Manager facilitated an Evaluation Hui to discuss the project and lessons learnt. The hui reviewed what the project delivered and the results achieved. We used questions in the “Evaluability Assessment & Framework” document provided by Community Sector Taskforce to guide discussions in tangata whenua and tangata tiriti caucases. The two groups met in separate rooms and came together at the end to share their perspective.
Detailed notes from the evaluation process are recorded, along with recommendations for the future.
This research was funded by Community Sector Taskforce.