Is it democratic for any small group of people to make major, important decisions on behalf of the rest of the people they are supposed to represent?
What is democracy? According to the Oxford Dictionary: “A system of government by the whole population or all the eligible members of a state, typically through elected representatives — a system of parliamentary democracy.”
Merriam-Webster: “Government by the people; especially: rule of the majority.”
Abraham Lincoln: “Government of the people, by the people, and for the people.”
Professor of Comparative Politics, Jack Vowles, Victoria University of Wellington: “Some aspects of co-governance conflict with votes being of equal value, with implications for the quality of our democracy.
“(But) everyone having a vote or votes of equal weight to elect those who represent them is not just one value, it is a foundational principle. As such, it is recognised in the Bill of Rights Act 1990.”
When one talks of “one person, one vote” we do not usually qualify what SORT of person, other than they meet the eligibility being a resident citizen of a certain age.
We do not say, for example: a Scot, a Hindu or Methodist, a rich person or a poor person, a person with a high or low IQ.
Present day New Zealanders would not expect any weighting to be given to Indian or Chinese voters, any more than for Māori or European, nor do percentages of ethnic heritage have any bearing.
So why do we have Māori wards?
The population figures and the results of the last local body election illustrate local voting power and whether or not people exercised that power.
First, the population data show that those who identify as Māori are not quite half of the population (25,134 Māori, 27,612 European, Other approximately 4000).
Electoral roll data also show about a third of eligible voters are on the Māori roll (11,452 vs 23,650 on the General roll).
It must be noted not everyone is enrolled — 89.9 percent of the district’s population at that time.
The reasons for non-enrolment lie with the individual, but it can be seen that a significant number of Māori are choosing to be on the General roll.
The age data show young Māori up to the mid-30s are enrolling more than the older age groupings, where older Māori enrolling falls off dramatically — but the percentage of enrolment is well short of those choosing the General roll.
What all this says, is that people have the power to choose — both on how they enrol and how they vote.
The number of elected people who have identified as Māori has varied over the years, but ethnicity does not seem to have influenced voters.
Another point to note is that the number of votes cast for the five Māori ward councillors was far lower than than the number of people on the Māori roll.
The total of votes cast for successful and unsuccessful candidates for the Māori ward was 4957 as against 11,452 on the Māori roll (43 percent).
The five councillors elected were put in by 3210 votes.
By comparison, the General seats (not counting the mayoral vote) attracted 15,417 votes out of 27,612 enrolled (55 percent).
The eight councillors elected were put in by 10,515 votes.
That means the General seats were decided by 38 percent of the enrolled voters, while the Māori ward seats were decided by 28 percent of those on the Māori roll.
I leave it to readers to come to their own conclusions, but the figures and the shape of our council show clearly that the power to choose representatives rests firmly in the hands of voters in this district — should they choose to exercise it.
