Christchurch: New app to help voters in local elections

Shortlisting your local election candidates just got easier, thanks to a new digital app from Christchurch City Council.

“People have told us they want easy digital access to candidate information, so we’ve developed an app that we believe is a first for local government in New Zealand,” says Electoral Officer Jo Daly.

“Smartphones have changed the way people interact with information, so we’re responding to this opportunity.”

The new app, called Celect, is an easy way to view candidate profiles for the 2016 Christchurch local elections. You can use your address or location to select your ward, and the app will display a filtered list of the candidates you can vote for, or you can swipe through all Christchurch candidates.

“Another function allows you to shortlist candidates for Mayor, your ward and your community board making it easier when you come to vote” Jo Daly says.

The Celect app is free and was designed and developed in-house by Christchurch City Council to make it easy for people to access and interact with election information.

Celect will also remind you to vote and help you find a nearby post box so you can post voting papers back before Saturday 8 October.

Jo Daly says the app was developed after research following the last election found the main reason enrolled people do not vote is that they do not know who to vote for.

Only 60 per cent of young people aged 18 to 24 are enrolled to vote in Canterbury, although recent enrolments have been at a higher rate than the national average.