Kiwis go to the polls

July 14th, 2008, marked 155 years since NZers’ first trip to the polling booths. But if elections seem complex in 2008, NZ’s first parliamentary elections began on 14th July, 1853, in the Bay of Islands and didn’t end until 1st October in Otago.

The Ministry for Culture and Heritage website www.NZHistory.net.nz has a feature on the colourful story of elections to mark this milestone.

Bribery, drunkenness, dancing Cossacks and ‘The Worm’ have all featured in election years since 1853.

The 1879 election in Christchurch was one of the most dramatic and violent in NZ’s history with 1500 ‘drunken larrikins’ wreaking havoc at dusk.

NZHistory.net.nz also documents the political rise of women with photos of women casting their first vote and a history of the “ladies’ gallery” where women could sit at Parliament – supposedly ‘not to distract MPs when speaking’.

The absence of organised political parties in NZ until the 1890s gave rise to some wonderfully specific election adverts in sharp contrast to the slogans and visual images so prominent in modern elections.

Images range from classic propaganda posters to one of a vast crowd glued to Willis Street’s Evening Post office façade as results were literally pasted to it at the 1931 general election. And of course, a video of National’s 1975 unforgettable dancing Cossacks.

‘Community contributions’ for most articles allow web visitors to make a mark. There are links to useful resources as NZers head toward the election of the 49th NZ Parliament later this year.