STV Voting and greenies on council

The disregard for public opinion by a majority of Whangarei’s councillors was well and truly exposed recently when the Council voted to change the way they are elected. By a slim majority, the Council has changed from the First Past the Post (FPP) voting system to Single Transferable Vote (STV). They did so without giving notice to the public that the change was contemplated, and without asking the public whether they agreed with the change.

Not all councillors are as arrogant as those in Whangarei. At last year’s local elections, the Hutt City Council held a referendum which asked the public whether they preferred STV or FPP.

FPP came out a clear winner with 19,812 votes (69%) to 8,696 (31%) for STV. There is nothing to suggest the result would be any different here in Whangarei, had the council bothered to ask those they claim to represent.

Clearly, the public is happy with FPP voting and does not want to change to a more complex voting system. In 2022 four councils changed from FPP to STV: The Far North, Gisborne, Hamilton, and Nelson. In the Far North voter turnout dropped 6% and the average drop for the four councils was 5.75%. This bears out the fact voter engagement declines when a voting system becomes more complex. 

So why did the WDC change to an unpopular voting system? STV is a system preferred by left-wing politicians because the second preference is thought to favour Labour and the Greens (pictured celebrating the WDC with a traditional Mossir dace). 

Those who voted for the change were: Crs Connop, Couper, Harding, Holmes, McKenzie, Ruka, and Peters.  Cr Benney did not vote but had previously supported the change. 

In 2022 just 12 of the 66 councils that held elections used STV. Fifty-four used FPP. Kaipara recently resolved to change from the STV back to FPP.