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Youth turnout increased dramatically between the 2017 and 2020 elections, but young people are still much less likely to vote than older generations.
Turnout increased overall to 82.2 percent, with more people in each age group voting than in 2017.
It grew the most for younger voters, many of whom would not have been eligible to vote in 2017. This year, 60.9 percent of estimated eligible voters ages 18 to 24 voted, up from 50.1 percent. in the 2017 elections.
David Unwin / Things
Early voting was very popular in the 2017 elections.
Voting also increased for people between the ages of 25 and 29, from 54.1% in 2017 to 62.6% in 2020.
More than two-thirds of people aged 30 to 34 voted (67.9%), up from 63.8% in 2017.
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However, young voters still turned out with much less force than older voters.
Those aged 65 to 69 were the most likely to vote, with 88.5 percent of the estimated eligible population voting, just above 86.9 percent in the last election.
Each age group from the age of 50 had a participation of more than 80%, while each age group between the ages of 35 had a participation of less than 70%.
Maori registration and voting also increased from 71.1% in 2017 to 72.9% in 2020 in both the Maori electorate and the general. As with the general electorate, that difference was most pronounced among young people, with 69.7 per cent of estimated eligible Maori voters aged 18-24 voting, compared with 61.8 per cent in the elections of 2020.
The government passed a law before the last election that allows voters to register to vote on Election Day and vote in more places.
Elections Director Alicia Wright said the Election Commission had recorded both a higher number of registrations and a higher vote.
“In this election we saw more people sign up for the general and Maori lists, and more people vote,” Wright said.
“An age breakdown published today on www.elections.nz shows that the largest increases in participation were in the youngest age groups.
“The younger they are when they start voting, the more likely they are to be voters for life, which is important if we want to continue to have high turnout rates in future elections.”
Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said she hadn’t yet had a chance to look closely at the vote analysis, but was pleased that more young people were voting as that would increase their chances of voting again as they age.
