David Hick

All this hoo-ha about getting people enrolled to vote.

We seem to go to extraordinary lengths to encourage people to participate in government processes. Census time comes around and we’re offering incentives like Warriors tickets, to get people to fill in a form.

Yet, when it comes to something as fundamental as voting, we’re still chasing people to enrol.

Surely, in 2026, we can do better?

Almost everyone has an IRD number. You need one to work, pay tax or receive certain government payments. Government agencies already hold considerable information about us.

So why not use that information to automatically enrol eligible voters? With appropriate privacy safeguards, surely, it isn’t beyond us.

And here’s another thought. Why should moving house mean being shifted to a dormant roll or having to re-enrol?

Enrol once and stay enrolled. When you turn up to vote, simply confirm or correct your residential address. Under MMP, your party vote is the same wherever you live. Your address is only needed to establish which electorate candidate you can vote for.

We can find people when we want to collect their taxes. We can find them when there’s a government payment to be made.

Perhaps we should be equally good at finding them when it’s time to exercise their democratic right to vote.

Or is that asking too much?