By Mohammad Nazayer and ZamZam Aden

RISK-FREE and boring party policies are to blame for low youth enrolment, says an academic, while young voters surveyed say many policies are irrelevant.

Dr Bryce Edwards says the reason of the low youth enrolment is politics which marginalise youth.

“Increasingly the parties operate in a very risk-free way in which they downplay any sort of radicalism and meaningful ideological content – they’re increasingly bland and boring,” says the lecturer in the Department of Politics at the University of Otago.

Figures released by the electoral commission a few weeks before the rolls closed for printing showed that more than 120,000 from 18 to 24 year old, and 57,000 people aged between 25 and 29 had yet to enrol.

According to those numbers, one in four young people might put decisions about their future into the hands of others if they fail to enrol.

Darren O’Neill (20, right) says the students’ loans scheme is one of the most important issues for him in this election.

However, there are no other issues which he thinks are interesting to his age group.

Blair Sanders (21, below) says policies such as raising the minimum wage, and taking the GST off fruits and vegetables which are the most attractive policies for him so far.

“I would like to see politicians live on $500 a week and try to feed their families on that before they make their policies,” Blair says.

In an anonymous online survey conducted by Newswire, participants said parties should focus on issues that affect youth so they feel involved and included.

They also said it is the government’s responsibility to convince them that their votes count and they can make a difference in government’s policies.

“I think more young people will enrol and vote when government start giving more consideration and airtime to policies that affect them.”

Another participant said: “Parties seeking the youth votes should be proactive and utilise social media to explain their political stance.

“Explaining their policies in a way that is easy to understand would help make voting seem more relevant to apathetic voter.”

People aged 18 and over are required by law to enrol if they are a New Zealand citizen, or if they have permanent residency and have lived in the country for one year at some point, and it is compulsory to enrol according to New Zealand law.

Murray Wicks, national manager of the Electoral Enrolment Centre, says: “We are urging young people to get enrolled as soon as possible to ensure they receive an EasyVote pack closer to election day.”

People can get an enrolment form by Free texting their name and address to 3676, going online to www.elections.org.nz, calling 0800 36 76 56 , picking one up from a Post Shop, or even via a page on Facebook www.facebook.com/IVoteNZ .

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