Our View: Voting is our duty in democracy | Rotorua News | Local News in Rotorua

New Zealanders are lucky enough to live in a democracy where they get to vote and their vote counts.

Why then, knowing how fortunate we are, do so many of us not exercise our right to vote? Are we just too lazy? Don't we care about who runs our city and our country or how?

To people living in countries where they do not get a choice, such apparent apathy would make absolutely no sense.

We have a local body election coming up in October yet there are still hundreds of locals who are not registered to vote. They have dropped off the electoral roll and not bothered to re-register. Some were perhaps never on the roll to start with.

Just 44 per cent of those eligible voted in Rotorua's local body elections in 2007, compared with 48 per cent in 2004. The decrease was in line with a national trend.

In the 2008 general election, 79.46 per cent of New Zealanders who were enrolled voted.

Some people argue that a single vote, their vote, is hardly going to make a difference but that's not true.

Every vote in our democracy counts, which means every vote, your vote, counts.

Most people seem to have an opinion on how our city and our country is being run and about the people who are running it.

But if you don't vote, you really have no right to complain.

In October, we get to vote for not only those we want on our local council, but who we want on our district health board, another extremely important body making decisions that affect us all.

Some speculate that low voter turnout is down to the fact that people live increasingly busy lives.

Anyone who says they don't have time to vote is merely making excuses.

The voting papers get sent to every registered voter. All you need to do is read what you're sent and make an informed choice.

Every decision our local council makes affects us in some way, even if only because as ratepayers we are contributing to what is being done. Surely the fact we are directly affected makes voting an important thing to do.

This newspaper will continue to inform readers about the upcoming election to help guide locals when it comes to making their choice.

Voting is more than just a privilege in a democracy - it is a duty.