Young people in Auckland's new Henderson electorate feeling disenfranchised

Young people in Auckland's new Henderson electorate say more needs to be done to encourage them that their vote matters.The electorate has been reformed with new boundaries - covering Henderson, Rānui, Swanson, Lincoln, Massey, Western Heights, and parts of Te Atatū and Upper Harbour.Just 56 percent of those aged 18 to 24 years old are enrolled to vote in the electorate, compared to 62 percent nationally.The Green's Alika Wells, Opportunity's Almo Wong, the National Party's Angee Nicholas, independent Kay Luv and ACT's Nick Peirce, all in the running to become Henderson's local MP.Also in the running is Labour's Phil Twyford, who's been the MP for the old Te Atatū electorate since 2011.Checkpoint spoke to some young people who live in the electorate.They said the enrolment rates were low because many felt disenfranchised.Another said, "Maybe because some of us just don't really care about politics these days. And we don't really know anything about it."For the issues most important for young people ahead of the election..at the top of the list was unemployment.Henderson local Fred said many of his friends have been struggling to find work in Auckland."To be honest, employment, it's like, really hard to find a job. I was lucky, you know. I managed to get a job with the Defence Force, but not everybody's this lucky, so [there's] heaps of unemployed. A lot of my mates as well, some lost their jobs, some can't even get a job."Nursing student Angie said high unemployment rates made her feel uneasy."I've studying nursing and I'm thinking about like how right now there's not a lot of jobs going around."Others told Checkpoint the cost of living was what they were most worried about."I'm poor each day. It's just a struggle to get by each week ... I'm a student."With gas and just especially groceries, everything's pretty much skyrocketing."Those Checkpoint spoke to also said politicians are failing to engage with young people.Fred said he was reminded to enrol to vote by his parents."For young people finding it hard to vote it's just lack of word. Not a lot of people are hearing about it. I think that's what's holding young people back.""I feel like it would be better if, say, 16-year-olds were able to vote just early on. I don't think there's anything wrong with that adherently," another said.Another said, "At least if it was just talked about more because I think [for] a lot of people it's just really overwhelming or a really daunting thing to like get into."But they all agreed, that more needed to be done in encouraging young people that their vote matters.The overall enrolment rate is at 91 percent, but for young people aged 18 to 24 it is just over 62 percent.In 2023, 77 percent of people aged 18 to 24 were enrolled to vote.Last week, the Electoral Commission's Karl le Quesne told RNZ the Electoral Commission had been visiting schools to try and get the enrolment rate up.They had also been working with community groups and youth groups."We'd like it to be a lot higher," he said.The 2026 general election will be held on 7 November.Under the new rules, eligible voters must enrol or update their details by midnight on 25 October to vote, with voting places opening for advance voting on 26 October.People who are not enrolled by the deadline will not be able to vote in the election.