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The Voters United initiative has been going for a year or so now and at the outset we were warned that we were taking on a huge task. How right they were! Our small band of ordinary New Zealanders have spent hours strategizing, meeting and preparing information that we hoped would better inform people concerned with the political direction of New Zealand.

The main message of the initiative was always, if you want representation do not split your vote to a party that will not get 5%. The overriding assumption for this strategy was that there would be enough minor party votes within the voting electorate, that if they united they would clear any 5% barrier and win representation and seats. As our initiative has progressed knowledge has come to light that has challenged that assumption. This fact has resulted in Voters United reviewing at this late stage its objectives and strategy. After months of advising people the folly of splitting the vote, for us to make a final recommendation to our membership to vote for a party that we believe is unlikely to get 5% is bordering on insanity. Our change in approach has been highlighted in our last newsletter and poll, and will be more detailed in an upcoming video.

We did not agree to this change easily within the Voters United team and understand that some people will be less than happy with our suggestion, but we are very comfortable with our reasoning, rationale and motives for making this change. We will be happy to hear your views and will be transparent with our answers. One of the interesting takes from our polling has been how similar the policies of these parties are. It leads us to believe that peoples’ party preferences come from their choice of a leader rather than a difference in policy. This supported our earlier premise that any of these minor parties would support our concerns better than the established parties. 

On a personal note I would like to thank all our Voters United members for engaging on this journey with us and whilst some of our objectives have not been met we think that we have added to the discussion and profile of all the minor parties. The regular emails of support, donations, fundraising and ongoing thanks for our initiative have kept us going during some difficult times. At this stage it is unclear what will happen next with Voters United but we won’t be going away or giving up. So, like the New Zealanders dancing in the puddles at the Freedom Village turn your sprinklers on, we are here to stay.

Once again thank you for your support and keep dancing in those puddles!

To my Voters United team, my heartfelt thanks and admiration for the amount of hours, effort and determination that has been put into this initiative. When I sat with you all as we developed the concept and I asked for your support, I never envisaged that I would be asking you for months of your lives. Who knew it would be this hard?