Campaign to get Auckland youth voting was election 'interfering', politician says

Friday, 24 March 2017

The Love Bus kombi was at the centre of Auckland Council's campaign to turn out the vote in 2016.

Is it interfering in an election for Auckland Council to campaign to turnout the youth vote?

Sandra Coney said it was at the Waitakere Ranges Local Board meeting on March 23.

Sandra Coney says council attempts to turnout voters should focus on making it easier for all.

'They designed a whole campaign to make a certain demographic vote,' the board member said.

'And there is an element of that interfering with the election, in my view.'

The board was considering a 2016 elections highlights and issues report by council's democracy services principal advisor Warwick McNaughton.

In it McNaughton said the council's election planning team identified historic low participation of those aged 18-39 and it made it a key focus to lift this group's turnout in 2016.

The 'comprehensive marketing campaign' using the Show Your Love brand was 'successful', McNaughton said.

It included advertising, social media, a Love Bus combi van, and ballot boxes with heart shapes on them.

'The election team tested the 'showyourlove' brand with audiences,' McNaughton said.

'Feedback, particularly from young people, has been very positive.'

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There was an 18 per cent increase in voter turnout in 2016 of those aged 18 to 24, compared to 2013.

The election cost the city $6 million to hold, with $1.16m of this spent on communications and engagement.

Coney said the council should instead focus on lifting the turnout for all, and not pick and choose.

'Trying to come up with a sexy campaign to get young people to vote … I do think like it's aimed at a particular demographic, rather than making it easy for everybody.

'And then it didn't seem to work very well anyway because local government's never any good at talking to young people.'

McNaughton said a 'desired outcome' for the 2016 election planning team was to get a turnout of 40 per cent in Auckland.

The actual turnout was 38.5 per cent, 3.7 per cent more than in 2013, but down on the 51 per cent in 2010 - the first election of the unitary council.