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Grey Power to host meetings on elections, referendum

October 3rd, 2011
[by David Armstrong]


Believe it or not, the rugby will soon be over and we'll be left with something else to ponder about apart from Dan Carter's groin - the general elections and MMP referendum.

To help get our thinking along those lines, the politically aware folk at Grey Power Motueka are organising two meetings to allow voters to become better informed about the choices ahead, and to express our opinion should we choose to.

Grey Power, which has always been actively involved in political lobbying and awareness as one of its core roles, is inviting us all to meet and hear from the West Coast-Tasman candidates at Memorial Hall on Wednesday, November 16th at 1.00pm.

The election has a particular importance in this area as the Labour candidate, local resident Damien O'Connor, is standing only as an electorate candidate and not as a list candidate, meaning if he loses he will not be returned on the party list. The other main candidates are likely to be returned on their party lists if they lose.

The other vote on election day, November 26th, is the referendum on the MMP voting system. The non-binding referendum will ask two questions. The first question will ask voters if they wish to keep the existing MMP voting system, or change to a different voting system. The second question will ask what alternative voting system the voter would prefer: first past the post, preferential voting, single transferable vote, or supplementary member.

To help understand how the various systems work and compare, Grey Power is hosting a meeting at Community House on Thursday, October 27th at 1.00pm. Gretchen Rashe, the Nelson returning officer, will explain the different voting systems we can vote for on Election day.

 



Comment by Val Rae, President Grey Power Motueka Association:
[Posted 5 October 2011]

Thank you David for writing this article promoting the meetings to come. Let's hope we have a good turn out for both meetings as a lot of work goes into organising them, all on a voluntary basis, as we try to help people clarify in their minds what and who to vote for.



Comment by Mark Scales:
[Posted 8 October 2011]

Well put David. The rugby world cup has and is absorbing much of the public's oxygen and you reminding our community that there is an election soon, is vitally important. The issues facing New Zealanders at this election are very important and very real, far too important to dismiss with just a smile and a wave.

These "meet the candidate meetings" will give us the opportunity to be reminded how the various parties and their candidates recognize and respond to issues such as, the sale of our assets, very high youth unemployment, and reducing the ever growing gap between the rich and the poor.



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