Gallagher supports electronic voting
West Ward candidate Martin Gallagher has announced his support for electronic voting in 2016 local government elections.
Once a skeptic of online voting, West Ward candidate Martin Gallagher now has his hand on the mouse.
As the Waikato Independent reported last month, Gallagher is not the only one behind the idea. Twenty-two year-old Hamilton resident Richard Mclaughlin told us that online voting would attract younger voters.
Gallagher agrees.
“My view is that we should be doing electronic voting sooner rather than later.
“If this is a mechanism by which we can get them [youth] more involved in local government and being passionate and caring for their cities and regions, which they actually do, but relate them into a voting process it is to be encouraged.”
He said it is time for New Zealand to open its mind to electronic media within our democratic system.
“I’ll be really interested in the pilot programmes they do around voting around New Zealand, to see any bugs drawn out and how we can improve.”
In the Hamilton’s 2010 local authority election around 38 percent of those enrolled actually voted.
Like Mclaughlin, Gallagher admitted that there are a large number of people who do not know anything about politics, hence the low voting turnout.
He said we should have more of an emphasis on politics in our education system.
“We really need to revamp our whole civics education programme whether that’s through social studies or a separate subject area.
“It’s incredibly ironic that two or three generations ago you had a 22-year-old going to fight a war for democracy and then three generations later you have many younger people who are not connecting with democracy.”
Mclaughlin said that engaging with youth needs to involve more than a Facebook page.
However, Gallagher said he has not used social media during his campaign, but rather a personal website.
“I suspect you would give me a ‘fail’ when it came to the use of social media.
“I still think being on the end of a telephone, being able to pop around to someone’s kitchen and have a cup of tea with them, to engage with them and being available is important, but I certainly acknowledge that probably social media is a power for good,” he said.
Voting closes tomorrow at 12pm.
