More than 600 students at Papatoetoe South School cast their votes this week as part of Te Pōti a Ngā Tamariki, a nationwide Electoral Commission initiative giving thousands of students hands-on experience with democracy.
Running alongside the general election, the mock vote aims to demystify the process for tamariki and build lifelong voting habits long before they turn 18.
Classrooms turned into voting stations
Senior rooms looked exactly like an official voting place, while junior classes ran peer-led setups where younger kids took turns acting as election officials.
To make it feel as real as possible, the practice voting papers showed the exact same political parties and candidates standing in the school’s actual local area.
For students with extra learning needs, the process focused on the basic idea of making a personal choice within a familiar routine, with students voting on their preferred Friday activities using the same step-by-step rules.
Khyren Meads Anaru, a young student at Papatoetoe South School, shared his experience voting today.
“I think it’s really important so we can understand voting when we are older and we don’t panic when we vote,” Meads Anaru said.
Fellow student Atlas Davis added that the experience helped him understand how important it is to vote, “It’s important to vote to know what leader you want to lead the country.”
Students highlight issues impacting their own families
Before voting day, senior classes spent time looking closely at which political parties aligned with their values.
Both Alofa Tautogia and Lote Fifita said seeing the direct impact of the cost of living on their own families made everyday expenses the main focus of their decisions.
“If I could vote for someone that had the same values that I would like, it would be lowering the food prices and also the rent for whānau because heaps of whānau are struggling out there,” Tautogia said.
Fifita also pointed to specific policies that matched her family’s needs.
“The Labour Party, they’ll help with the rent and food and transport. Lowering the transport money would really help me and my family,” she said.
Beyond national issues, Tautogia highlighted a practical change closer to home.
“I reckon for kids today they should lower the uniform prices because some of the uniform prices are $50 and that’s way too much,” she added.
He nui tēnei kaupapa
Savrnah Wirihana, a teacher in the school’s Bilingual unit, said she was impressed by how quickly students grasped complex political ideas once given the platform to discuss them.
“He nui tēnei kaupapa, nui ngā wānanga o āku tamariki, o ngā tamariki koa i roto i tō tātou kura,” Wirihana said. “Nui ngā kōrero, nui o rātou whakaaro kua puta mō te ahua nei, mō ngā tikanga o ērā pāti.
School staff noted that formal lessons on politics were rarely part of the primary curriculum when they were growing up. The Electoral Commission’s programme aims to change that, drawing on research that shows learning about democracy early makes people much more likely to vote as adults.
Taking the discussions to the whānau
Local parents gave strong support to politics being taught in the classroom, noting that the lessons directly started important conversations at home.
In South Auckland areas, where adult turnout has traditionally trailed national numbers, teachers say this push from kids is a major benefit of the programme.
Pou Ārahi Apera Toa said the students often end up being the ones motivating their own families to go out and vote during election week.
“E mōhio ana tātou ngā kaiako kāore ētahi o ngā whānau e haere ana ki te pōti,” Toa said. “Nā he whakaaro aroha mō ngā tamariki ki te ako i tērā huarahi, i muri i tērā hoki atu ki te kāinga whakakipakipa i ngā whānau i te kāinga.”
Principal Caroline Chawke said the exercise proved that young people care deeply about politics when they see their own values reflected in party plans.
“If our tamariki are living their values and they see their values lived within the politics, within the policies that they’re learning about, then that’s where they’re going to listen to their hearts, and that’s where they’ll put their votes,” Chawke said.
To match real election rules, the individual votes cast at Papatoetoe South School will be added to national counts from primary, intermediate, and high schools across the country.
The Electoral Commission will release the final public results for Te Pōti a Ngā Tamariki, showing exactly how the New Zealand Parliament would look if the next generation held the vote today.
