Homemade costumes, rock concerts and satirical videos are being used to counter enrolment law changes that kick in on October 25. Will they work?

The fishnet stockings cost $10, the wig was $22 and an orange morphsuit was ordered online for $37. The eyes and nose were cut from an old pair of jeans and the pleaser heels were a gift but hurt their feet. The biggest expense? Food for the free sausage sizzle. “Vegan sausages are a little bit more expensive,” says Nic Lee.

By day, Lee is a Lower Hutt postie. By night they morph into Ellie, Lee’s unofficial and potentially unlawful take on Orange Guy, the Electoral Commission’s mascot. “We’d prefer they don’t mimic our branding too closely,” a commission spokesperson says. “Orange Guy and our logo are trademarked for that reason.”

Lee is risking potential trademark infringement for one reason: to encourage as many young people as possible to enrol to vote. Thanks to recent law changes, eligible voters need to enrol by October 25, 13 days before the election. Anyone rocking up between then and November 7 who hasn’t done so will be turned away. 

The largest age group of unenrolled voters by far is 18-24-year-olds – just 62% are enrolled, leaving 166,746 people yet to do so, as of Thursday. But the law changes could impact others too. “This government has screwed over our generation [and] all these other vulnerable communities, like Māori, Pacifika, renters, working people,” says Lee. “Young people are just a part of that.”

To help spread their message, Lee’s character Ellie, or ‘The Ellie Commission’ on Instagram, is non-partisan. “It doesn’t matter who you’re voting for,” Lee says. Ellie hosts sausage sizzles, appears at events and twerks in Cuba St. The vibe is upbeat and positive. Everyone is encouraged to scan the QR code taped to her chest and enrol. “They’ve just turned 18,” says Lee, about some of the people they’re hoping to appeal to. “They don’t know where to start.” 

Lee is backed by a team spending their own time and money on this, and they’re not alone. Ellie has appeared in the Instagram feed for On A Roll, a pro-enrolment group run “by rangatahi, for rangatahi”. Adriana Bird is part of the crew that has volunteers all over the country visiting schools, markets and concerts spreading a simple message: it wants “the biggest turnout of young people in our history”.

Those in that demographic are reluctant voters for a reason, says Bird. “A lot of young people just don’t really feel like their vote matters because they just aren’t really being spoken to in a way that makes it feel that way,” she says. “Our campaign is essentially enabling them to see the power that they have in their collective voice … they’re the second largest voting demographic in the country.”

A series of concerts called Rock’en’rol begins this weekend targeting young voters. Others are taking a more satirical route. On Instagram, a mockumentary about a fake political party called Trust NZ airs in chunks. Clips go behind the scenes of an election campaign that encourages young people not to vote. “How about a gap year – from voting?” is one mooted slogan. “You don’t understand the economy, you’re only 18,” reasons a Trust NZ politician at an anti-vote sausage sizzle. 

Dozens of people, including Sports Team, the crew behind recent local hit The Weedeaters, and The Educators’ director Jesse Griffin, are involved in making the clips. All donated their time and money. “Everyone who is doing it completely supports the kaupapa,” says producer Michele Powles. Humour was chosen as a vehicle to help reach younger demographics. “Comedy is a great way to get through to kids, right?”

Their videos might be funny but organisers say their message is serious. It’s coming from a place of frustration. “This is the result of a bunch of us banging our heads against a wall, trying to figure out how the hell to convince a couple hundred thousand potential voters to go out and vote,” says producer Annabel Kean. Powles agrees. “Why would you make it harder for people to vote?” she says. “We really need to be making democracy more accessible – not less.” 

Carol Mutch, an emeritus professor at the University of Auckland specialising in critical studies in education, says the teenage brain is one reason for their apathy. “If you’ve been a parent of teenagers, you know they’re always last minute,” she says. “They’re like, ‘I’ll just do that assignment tonight and hand it in tomorrow.’”

The bigger problem: politicians and their policies don’t speak to them. “Young people … don’t want to engage in the formal machinery of government, politics and voting because they don’t see that they’re being listened to,” she says. “They don’t see that the issues address the things that are happening in their lives. Just look at their world – it’s absolute chaos.”

Mutch agrees comedy can be a good way to reach them. “Putting out a serious thing [with] some grey-haired old fellow saying, ‘The government cares about you,’ is not going to win them over,” she says. “For young people who can vote, it seems like a really cynical move to [attempt to] cut them out.” (The changes were made to improve the “timeliness, efficient, integrity and resilience of elections,” says the ministry of justice.)

Anecdotally, the message seems to be getting through. Trust NZ’s videos have been viewed more than 400,000 times and are inspiring others to release parody videos, says Powles. On a Roll has helped more than 6,000 enrol, says Bird. Lee’s spare time is being eaten up by requests for appearances by her bright orange character Ellie. “I spend my entire lunch break working on this,” they say. “I’m having to take annual leave.”

A deadline looms. October 25 is only three weeks away. As long as there are young people yet to enrol, you’ll find Lee wearing bright orange clothes and uncomfortable shoes while handing out sausages. “You’re less likely to be aware of the changes as a young person,” Lee says. “It’s just not really on your radar … It’s like, ‘Enrol – and have a free sausage.’”

Rock’en’rol gets underway this weekend; dates and tickets can be found here.