The National Party has swept to victory nudging Labour aside and in so doing casting NZ First into oblivion.
In an ‘official’ count following Kids Voting at Owairoa Primary School in Howick, National dominated in both the Botany and Pakuranga electorates taking 46 per cent and 44 per cent of the party vote respectively.
The students’ votes saw Labour claim 35 per cent of the party vote in Botany (Greens 10%, Maori 4%, NZ First and others 1% each) and 37 per cent in the Pakuranga electorate (Greens 9%, Maori 5%, NZ First 2%).
As for candidates, National Party ruled again with Simeon Brown taking the Pakuranga electorate vote with 42 per cent ahead of Labour’s Barry Kirker (31%) and the Green’s Guy Hunt (10%). Jami-Lee Ross romped in with 50 per cent of the vote in the Botany electorate ahead of Labour’s Tofik Mamedov (28%) and Green Party candidate Julie Zhu (10%).
“We held the Kids Voting under strict conditions imposed by the Owairoa Primary Returning Officers,” said principal Alan McIntyre.
“The students have enjoyed the experience and discussed the political process and many of the different party policies before coming to a decision.
“It was fun to hear why different students voted for the different candidates. They were quite adamant about their choices with a number following their family voting patterns with some students taking a different view and voting for a party that was more relevant for them.”
