I was a candidate in the 2019 local government election, and have been involved in both the 2017 and 2020 general elections. One observation from being on the inside of elections is how poorly attended some candidate events can be, as well as how inaccessible they can be.
Encouraging civic participation is something that should only be commended, but it's also worth considering how we could improve the way we facilitate engagement with our elections.
I attended over 50 candidate events in 2019 - there were a handful of events that were packed to the brim, but many times there were more candidates than members of the public. Probably the worst attended event was one where, aside from the candidates’ support people, there were only three members of the public total.
Here are some suggestions on ways to rethink how we hold candidate events and get our communities engaged in our democracy.
Do you even need to hold an event in the first place?
It's pretty demoralising for both organisers and candidates when few people turn up to an event but many people feel obliged to hold a town-hall-style candidate event when it's actually not a good fit for their community. In-person events work well for organisations or communities who often meet in-person or are used to mobilising quickly together.
💻 If your community is often time-poor or is more active online than in-person, doing something like a survey on topics of interest to your organisation or community might be much more effective.
You get to ask questions specific to the issues your community cares about. The community can engage in that content whenever is convenient to them, plus they can skip through candidates who might not be aligned with their values (rather than feeling like you've lost an evening listening to people you'd never vote for in a million years).
Do make sure you give them a word count per question so that candidates don't write you a novel - but a survey could be a significant resource to your community right up to when voting ends, rather than an event that is just for one night.
Here's an example of a survey by Organise Aotearoa in 2019 👇
They highlighted the candidates who best fit their values, while still allowing you to read all the answers if you wanted to dive in-depth. This generated a lot of discussion with each person who shared the link engaging a handful of friends each time - and I think was much more wide-reaching and informative than if they had held an in-person event.
Elections can be shaped by the questions which are asked, and a successful survey can be a way of putting your issues at the forefront of the conversations happening.
💡 Tips for a good survey:
Don't ask too many questions - 5-8 max
Give them a max word count per question - something like 50 words
Be prepared to do some rudimentary fact-checking if necessary
Give them a soft deadline (which they will probably miss) and then a hard deadline where if they don't get their answers in, it will be published without them
If you really want to hold an event - how do you get people to give a shit, turn up, and also vote?
From the elections I've been involved in, the most successful events were ones that:
Were designed for the community in mind;
Had a clear point of difference you could see from the format or from how the event was promoted;
Made people feel like their time wasn't wasted by attending, and;
Gave them some momentum to make sure they got their vote in.
🤝 Rather than a "debate" - which is inherently adversarial when councils are a team of people who must work together for what's best for the city - event formats that were more engaging and collaborative gave audience members a more positive experience.
The YWCA in Hamilton runs candidate speed dating - where the audience is split into small groups (think 5-10 people) and each candidate has ~5 minutes with each group. The audience does have to be a little organised and have some questions prepared, but they get to directly speak with candidates and have a real back-and-forth. This is a clear point of difference where candidates aren't talking at their audience and audience members can feel like they have a more personal understanding of each candidate.
Go Eco ran an event last election where they asked candidates questions centred around the UN Sustainable Development Goals - as that's a framework both Hamilton City Council and Go Eco use in their impact reporting. They didn't ask every candidate the same question - instead, asking a couple of candidates a question on the same topic - and gave them a brief speaking slot (30 seconds each) which meant candidates acknowledged others’ answers in order to build on their responses and highlighted their shared values.
🤔 Don't ask the same questions that are already in the candidate booklet or on council's website - ask what you need to best represent your community.
Before any local government election, each council puts together a pre-election report that outlines key facts about the council and the city, as well as some of the issues facing the city. This is an example of Hamilton's report from 2019 👈
These reports can be a huge asset to the election, but often the questions and issues raised in them can be too high-level to be really tangible (like "what's your vision for the city") or don't reflect the day-to-day realities our communities live in (like "are you comfortable with council's debt-to-revenue ratio").
There is a place to answer more jargony or fiscal questions - especially ones about how candidates approach things like growth, rates, and budgets - but understanding a candidate's approach to topics like homelessness, poverty, housing insecurity, and climate change are also critical insights into how they'd represent you on council.
🙈 Believe it or not, you don't have to invite every candidate.
Part of the reason why the YWCA can give each group 5 minutes with a candidate is that they don't invite all the candidates - they only invite women candidates to participate (but other candidates are welcome to be a member of the audience). This is a strategic decision to promote women candidates from an organisation whose goals are women's empowerment and leadership.
This can apply more widely too - if you're an organisation that has a particular focus, you don't have to give a speaking slot to candidates who are explicitly against your kaupapa (especially if they've stated it publicly or have a track record of being antithetical to your goals).
Elections can be a cesspit of weirdos and muppets, and part of what puts people off attending events and even voting is the demoralising act of having to listen to people you'd be horrified to elect or who would turn the election into a joke.
Choosing wisely who you invite allows you to hold the candidates to a higher standard - either asking them more questions or giving them a slightly longer speaking time for each question. This can really set a group of potential candidates apart and give your community a real opportunity to be decisive about who they're supporting.
👀 Is your event actually accessible to the community it's hoping to engage with?
Accessibility is a big topic and some questions to ask yourself (for both candidates and the audience) are:
How would someone working full-time or with multiple jobs access your event? Someone with children?
Can you also stream the event for people to watch later or from home?
How will people get to your event? Is it near a public transport link?
How will you be inclusive to people with mobility needs - are there ample chairs for everyone? Is there a wheelchair accessible entrance and exit? If possible, provide chairs with backs and no arms, not bar stools.
How will you be inclusive to people who are deaf or hard of hearing - will there be a microphone for candidates to use (and be enforced to use)? If the event is streamed, can you turn on live captioning? If you know there will be people who need a sign-language interpreter, can you organise one?
It's important to remember for candidates, there will be incumbents who have a clear advantage over other candidates who are running without three years experience in the role, without the knowledge and expertise of council staff informing them, and generally are doing it unpaid and in their free time. To make your event accessible to candidates:
Be mindful that if it is during the weekday, candidates who otherwise work full time may need to request time off - and this can impact them financially especially if you’re not the only event during the workday.
Sending your questions in advance allows non-elected candidates to research the topics in more depth and give better answers. Councillors are given time to prepare in advance of voting on issues at council - why should election events be any different?
How will you keep both candidates and the public safe?
One of the most critical questions to answer is how will you create a space that does not tolerate racism, sexism, homophobia, transphobia, ableism, or xenophobia?
For many candidates, the campaign can be traumatising and harmful because of how they're treated, especially at public events, and many people from marginalised communities will not run a second time. While people running for public office need to be held to a high standard, too many people use elections as an opportunity for targeted harassment and abuse. You might think this does not happen in little old Aotearoa, but it absolutely does.
It's also worth noting that not being tolerant of hate and abuse also makes the event safer for your community and helps them to have a more positive experience surrounding local government.
There are two critical ways of keeping people safe during an event:
🙊 Do not allow questions from the floor - or if you do, collect them in advance and be prepared to moderate them.
Questions from the floor are unfortunately often co-opted by people with niche agendas, who will give a statement (not a question) and act like a sponge - filling up any and all space given to them and relishing in the attention. Instead, either collect questions in advance and moderate them, or cut the event early and allow the audience to speak directly to candidates they wanted to hear more from. This removes the public humiliation aspect which drives some people.
I've seen this co-opted by candidates as well, who have volunteers in the audience ready to ask a question just to humiliate another candidate, or have had their partner ask questions of another candidate that they would be looked down upon for asking themselves. Other members of the public can't always see this dynamic, so limiting people's ability to interfere with the event limits the amount of dirty politics at play.
🔇 Be prepared to cut off someone's microphone if they make statements that directly harm a marginalised group, or step in if someone makes personal attacks.
There's a difference between criticising another candidate's comments, and having a go at them - and generally, the latter doesn't go down well with audiences anyway. The same also goes for the public's comments towards candidates as well.
Unfortunately, one of my experiences during the campaign was having an audience member publicly attack me at an event and the event organisers did not have the courage to step in and say something. The member of the public had clearly looked things up about me in advance and wanted to pick a fight with me - it was targeted harassment. Events can be pretty full-on in general but this crossed a line into emotionally distressing and I left the event feeling apprehensive about attending more events - especially as I was already receiving harassment online as well.
As an event organiser, you owe the people you invite a safe environment. If we want good representation, we need good candidates, and we won't get good candidates if the campaign trail discourages people from running.
Encourage people to check their enrolment
This one is easy - invite the Electoral Commission along or have a laptop or tablet available for people to check their enrolment details at the event. If people are thinking about voting, it pays to also remind them to check their enrolment details are up to date!
A final summary
💡 Tips for a good event:
Vary the format to encourage engagement and collaboration
Ask questions that directly impact your community
You don't necessarily have to invite all candidates
Consider the time, date, transport options, mobility and hearing needs of your audience
Consider allowing candidates to prepare in advance and whether your time and date will disadvantage working candidates
Be prepared and purposeful about creating a safe event
Encourage people to check and update their enrolment
Extra for experts: give candidates a clear speaking allocation and either turn their microphone off or have an obnoxious alarm that plays over them once their time is up. It stops people from taking up more time than others just because they feel entitled to it and can help the mood be a bit lighter if you choose a fun alarm song.
And remember - you don't have to do stuff on your own. An additional option is to collaborate with another organisation that shares your kaupapa and between the two, provide a good turnout for your event (or get some great shares on your survey 😉).