Looking at the turnout for the Tauranga By-election makes me pretty despondent. Only 40.6 per cent of the 51,510 people enrolled prior to Election Day turned out to vote.

A mere 19,403 people voted. What this tells me is that the result is not a true representation of our population or the voice of our community.

Traditionally, non-Maori aged above 60 years old make up the bulk of voters. I wonder if this was the case with this by-election?

We need more of us to turn out at voting – no matter what the elections are – in order to fully represent all of our community. We all have the power of our vote – and our vote does count. Maybe we need compulsory voting like in Australia? It's a no-brainer that we need civic education in schools. Something is wrong here. Voting matters. Even if we feel disillusioned by the parties or candidates standing, better to vote strategically for the one we are least unimpressed with than to not vote at all. Let's hope we get a better voter turnout for the Bay of Plenty Regional Council elections in October – an opportunity to vote on the governance of our air, land, freshwater and ocean. It's concerning that the likelihood is we might not.

Kat Macmillan, Welcome Bay.