Mahurangi Magazine - First-past-the-post dictates one tick

A less obvious snafu, closer to home, is the seven-person competition for the three-vacancy Warkworth Subdivision of the Rodney Local Board. Supporters of the need for much younger representatives to be elected will enthusiastically give their ‘first’ tick to Tessa Berger, but if they go on to get their money’s worth by ticking another couple of candidates, they could well spoil the chances for their favourite. Regrettably, first-past-the-post forces thinking voters to vote strategically, and discipline themselves to support only one candidate.