The Single Transferable Vote and Voter Turnout in the 2004 Local Elections

Voter turnout in local and general elections is one of the key elements of measuring citizen participation. The 2004 New Zealand local elections were unique in the world in that local councils used two electoral systems: plurality majority and proportional representation. This presents a great opportunity to study the consequences of this combination and the impact of each on voter turnout. This article analyzes the impact of the "single transferable vote" electoral system in those councils that adopted it, with comparisons to those councils that used "first past the post." This paper will show that there were common misconceptions about the reason for low voter turnout and will identify factors that might encourage the successful use of the single transferable vote in the future.