Only 35% of voters in Manukau have turned out to vote in today's by-election. "This figure is incredibly low and is a disgrace to democracy." Former Greens co-leader BHjr132 said shortly after the conclusion of counting in the by-election.

The result has bolstered the Green Party's call for the establishment of a civic participation commission. The commission would be tasked with studying the exact changes needed to best encourage all citizens to participate in the democratic process.

"I plan to introduce a private member's bill to establish this civic participation commission in the coming days but this is not the only step that needs to be taken to ensure higher participation in future elections. The Greens called for numerous measures to bolster public participation in our democracy in the last election campaign such as expanding civics education in secondary schools and the aforementioned civic participation commission." BHjr132 commented.

The Greens are calling on the National government to support these policies and commit to funding measures such as expanded civics education in secondary schools in future budgets.