A History of the Vote in New Zealand: An online exhibition hosted on the Elections New Zealand website (www.elections.org.nz).
Reviewed by Michael Kelly
New Zealand, as a Westminster-style democracy, has universal suffrage for persons over 18 as the foundation of our democratic government. In his recently released book on the vote in New Zealand, Adventures in Democracy: A History of the Vote in New Zealand (University of Otago Press, 2003), Neill Atkinson has traced democracy's journey to the position we now take for granted. We were, famously, the first self-governing nation to grant the vote to women, but it is indeed surprising how long it took before all New Zealanders acquired basic electoral rights. To accompany the book, which commemorates the 150th anniversary of parliamentary elections, the Electoral Commission and the Ministry for Culture and Heritage have set up a website – an 'exhibition', which indeed is what it feels like – to trace the changes in our electoral system. The refreshingly uncomplicated front page has an introduction and a site map. The menu has two main headings: 'Topics' and 'Resources'. The former deals with some of the main themes of electoral history in New Zealand. The latter offers a range of resources, from electoral data to educational material.
It's always rewarding, even exciting, to open up a site and get a rush of information, and this is exactly what the reader will enjoy about this site. The front page just hints at the material available inside. Under 'Topics', for instance, we have – among others – 'The Right to Vote', 'Maori and the Vote', and 'Votes for Women'. Each page examines various aspects of each topic, with a chronological narrative, boxed insets, photos and ephemera, all sensibly laid out. A number of pages retain the main menu on the right-hand side or offer a link at the bottom of the page, so navigation remains a simple matter.
In 'Resources' we get, for example, a splendidly comprehensive timeline, a fascinating miscellany of historic audio and audiovisual files (for those who are old enough, who could forget the dancing Cossacks of the 1975 election campaign?), and a range of statistical information. From the last, we learn that only twice since 1911 has the voter turnout at general elections fallen below 80%, in 1978 and 2002. And if the educational value of the site is not already obvious, there is a section for students and a quiz.
This site, which will not date in a hurry and will be easy to update, is an excellent addition to the panoply of government sites that add great value to our understanding of our past. The Electoral Commission and the Ministry for Culture and Heritage are to be congratulated for offering this interesting and useful resource on the web.
Michael Kelly is a freelance historian and heritage consultant based in Wellington.
[See also a review of the book: Adventures in Democracy: A History of the Vote in New Zealand ]
