Are you feeling 'politically fatigued' by the election?

Are you politically worn out?There's still 29 days to the election, but with a barrage of policy announcements every day, some people may feel like they have hit a wall.Political fatigue syndrome is a real condition, where voters become exhausted and disenchanted, and feel that their vote won't make any difference.Associate professor of psychology at Auckland University, Danny Osborne, specialises in political psychology.He told Checkpoint that it was natural for voters to become somewhat disconnected throughout the lead up to any election."I think there's definitely a bit of fatigue at the moment, partly due to just the constant barrage of policies that are leaking out at the moment."Osborne said that policies being announced on a daily basis could lead to people quickly becoming overwhelmed."There's reasons for doing it this particular way. You're able to dominate the headlines for the given day when you release a new policy, [but] at the same time, the downside to that is voters do get a bit fatigued in the lead up to the election."Evie RichardsonMudslinging between politicians was another major turnoff for voters, Osborne said."When parties and politicians go negative, it does lead to this decline in political efficacy and sense that you can do something about the upcoming election."Checkpoint took to the streets of Auckland's Onehunga to see how voters were feeling in the lead to up the election.One man said while he was interested in politics, he had been seeing almost "too much" about the election campaign."I don't watch the debates, it just doesn't seem to have a lot of point to it, they just sort of slug it out."In terms of what the parties were offering, he said he thought the options to vote for were good, but that the minor parties were holding too much power.One woman told Checkpoint she wasn't "very political" and thought she was somewhere it the middle when it came to being engaged with the campaign."I'm not really listening to loads ... I know who I'm going to vote for, and that's about it."She said apart from the Green Party, she felt there wasn't much difference between all the parties.Her sentiment was echoed by other voters.Evie Richardson"I don't think any of the major parties are giving any big bright ideas," another man said.Another woman, who told Checkpoint she was a university lecturer working in health care, said she had been thinking about the election a lot.She said she was worried about the low engagement she was seeing among her students."It's just priorities, they're just trying to survive, we barely have students showing up to lectures, let alone [voting], they're trying to survive, get food, petrol, it's just the whole cost of living."She said she felt a big change was needed after this election."We have to be hopeful, otherwise we'll just be crying all the time."Another man told Checkpoint he hadn't really thought much about the election yet, and had been too busy to look into what the parties were offering."I think we're going to be stuffed either way."Osborne said the way for people to stay engaged was to talk to friends and colleagues about what was happening, and trying to keep up with the news on a daily basis.He said voters needed to remember that the MMP system meant their vote would be sure to make a difference in the outcome of this election."It's important for voters to remain optimistic that although maybe your party isn't going to be a major party who gets in, you can still influence the outcome of an election by voting for whichever party is best representing your policies."Voters felt most valued when politicians reflect and support policies that are relevant to people, Osborne said."The cost of living crisis is impacting everyone, and it's really hard to tell voters to stay informed with politics and read the news ... when you're worried about putting food on the table.""I think the ways that politicians can perhaps break through that barrier is by consistently talking about the policies and explaining how your policies are going to improve people's lives."Osborne said that it was "inspiring" that people have the opportunity to change the direction of the country for the next three years.