Dunedin still has 10,000 ‘‘missing’’ young voters, with just over a month to go before the general election.
Dunedin Registrar of Electors Dee Vickers said statistics showed that, despite attempts to highlight the issue, just 48.52% of those aged 18-24 were enrolled to vote in the Dunedin North electorate.
Numbers were better in South Dunedin, where 75.69% of those aged 18-24 were enrolled.
This left 8984 young people in Dunedin North and 1320 in Dunedin South disenfranchised, Mrs Vickers said.
‘‘So we are still missing those 10,000 young people,’’ she said.
By opting out, or just not being bothered, many young people were allowing other people to ‘‘pave the future’’ for them, she said.
In the over-35 age groups, enrolments stand at more than 95%.
To draw attention to the need to enrol, the Electoral Commission’s ‘‘orange guy’’ has this week joined field worker Kay Patrick on campus at the University of Otago.
‘‘So far, he is proving to be a real hit among the students,’’ Mrs Vickers said.
So far, deputy registrar David Morris had had 2321 electoral enrolment packs returned stamped ‘‘gone no address’’ (GNA).
The packs were among 92,000 sent to registered voters in the Dunedin North, Dunedin South and Te Tai Tonga (Southern district) electorates.
People who had changed address and/or had not received an enrolment pack were not enrolled to vote, Mrs Vickers said.
‘‘We do everything in our power to track these people down, so that they don’t continue to be disenfranchised.’’
People who enrolled before August 23 would receive an ‘‘EasyVote’’ card, which simplified the process of voting.
Those who enrolled after August 23 were still eligible to vote, but would not get a card, Mrs Vickers said.
Overseas voting opens on September 6, and advance voting on September 11. Official voting day is September 23.
