Hundreds of students vote on campus ahead of election day

Hundreds of UC students have cast their ballot on campus. Photo: Matteo Zhang

Hundreds of University of Canterbury students have voted in polling booths on campus in the first week of advanced voting.

At UC the electoral commission has two advance voting stations on campus, one in the Undercroft and the other in the Engineering Core.

In the first week of advance voting 607,255 kiwis have voted since polling booths opened last Monday.

Canta spoke to students who voted at UC last week to find out why they voted and what their message was to other students.

18-year-old first-time voter Alice Isobel, who shared her voting experience on TikTok, said that the speed and ease of voting took her by surprise.

Isobel said that she and a friend decided to share their experience on TikTok because many of their friends were “...confused how to vote, when to vote, if they should vote.”

“I think being a first-time voter is pretty scary for some people, intimidating because it's such a big decision,” she said.

She encouraged other young people to get out and vote too as it was their future they were voting for.

“A lot of the people that are enrolled and voting are in the older age group, and a lot of time they are voting for themselves.”

If more young people voted, then the issues important to them would be addressed, she said.

“I think that every vote matters, even if you think “oh I’m just one person it doesn’t really matter,” It does because if there's 100,000 people who all thought “oh I’m just one person it doesn’t really matter,” that is a 100,000 vote that could have made a difference.”

21 Years Old Dylan Johnson, a second time voter, said he encouraged everyone to vote as it meant a people’s wide range of views are properly represented.

“I believe it's important that everyone gets a vote, and gets a say, regardless of who you vote for and what you vote for,” he said.

“It can be challenging if you don’t like any of the candidates or any of the parties, but at the end of the day it's going to affect you regardless, so you might as well vote for a party as closest to your views as possible.”

Advanced Voting station in the Engineering Core at UC. Photo: Matteo Zhang

22-year-old UC student and second time voter Xanthe Rose said that she was voting because she felt like it was her obligation to have a say.

“We’re going to have the system for a lot longer than some of the older generations, and all of us should have a say in that,” Rose said.

20-years-old Zoe, another first-time voter, told Canta that it was a no-brainer to her she would vote as in her view it came hand-in-hand with being a citizen In New Zealand.

She encouraged other university students to get out and vote, even those who weren’t sure who to vote for.

“There's heaps of easy quizzes and stuff to do that don’t take very long to give a bit of a direction as to which party you should vote for. It's not as hard as you think it is and it's always better to do it than not,” Zoe said.

Students line up to vote in the Undercroft at UC. Photo: Matteo Zhang

The Opportunities Party leader Raf Manji was also at the Undercroft polling booth on Friday to vote. He said that voting was always exciting and that he encouraged young people to get out and vote.

“This is actually their only chance to have a say, even if you think your vote won’t matter or might be wasted, it's not, it's actually really important, and actually just taking part in it is important.”

Young people in New Zealand continue to have lower voter turnout rates than rest of the general population.

However, there was a significant increase in the number of young people turning out to vote at the 2020 General Election with 43,293 more 18 to 24-year-olds voting.

The Electoral Commission is hoping to see that treat continue as the younger people start voting the more likely they are to become lifelong voters ensuring higher participation rates in future elections.

Labour Deputy Prime Minister Carmel Sepuloni who toured UC’s campus last week told Canta that it was important university students voted as “...so many of the decisions made are going to have an impact on their lives.”

Labour Deputy Prime Minister Carmel Sepuloni who toured campus with Ilam MP Sarah Pallet and Selwyn Candidate Luke Jones. Photo: Matteo Zhang

“They’re on the brink of finishing studying, and going into full-time employment, and they need to determine the decisions being made will look like for them,” the Deputy Prime Minister said.

The advanced voting stations on campus will remain open this week from 10am to 5pm, the EngCore booth will close on Thursday 12th of October and the Undercroft a day later on Friday the 13th of October.

During election day this Saturday there will be two voting places near campus, one at Ilam School and the other at Medbury with both open from 9am to 7pm when vote counting begins.