An 82-year-old National/Act supporter who is confused about strategic voting

He thinks the overhang strategy is a sign there's something wrong with MMP, and wouldn't dream of getting a politician tattooed on him.

Name: Peter Altmann

Age: 82

Occupation: Retired.

Living situation: I own my own home.

Electorate: Epsom.

Who will you vote for? For the party vote, National, and for the electorate vote, Act (David Seymour). That’s what I’ve done for the last few elections, but I have voted for Labour some time ago and for the Greens. 

What attracts you to National? I have a lot of confidence in the people within the National Party to grasp the means of managing the economy well. I’m a little bit fearful about some of the other parties and how much money they might waste. As we get closer to the election they are feverishly tossing out lollies in a lolly scramble, to use a hackneyed phrase. 

Why are you voting for David Seymour with your electorate vote? I’ve watched David Seymour grow in this area. I think he’s a hardworking MP. He explains things clearly. He has a tendency to come up with solutions to problems, whereas I was listening to the Green candidate [Lawrence Xu-Nan] and I think he was very good at articulating problems, but I was waiting for solutions. 

How do you feel about the government’s performance over the last three years? Unfortunately I think they were given a very difficult job to restore the economy. I think they are doing what you and I would do in our own households, which is that if it’s a little harder to get money, we’d look at what we can save on. Let’s watch our expenditure. I like that approach because the economy needs more financial strength. 

What do you think about the strategic voting strategy which suggests that the right could engineer an overhang if you give your electorate vote to a National candidate but party vote to Act or NZ First? It has made me very, very confused. I've listened to the arguments for and against. I've had a lot of difficulty trying to understand which strategy seems to be the best. But from what I can see, the strategy is very similar. You party vote for the party, whichever it is, that’s what they all want. But I don't fully understand the intention of these strategies, which has made me think that there's something wrong with the voting system itself, because most of the people I talk to, friends, acquaintances, also don't understand the so-called strategy we're being asked to pursue, which leads me to think that there's something inherently wrong with the system.

If you had to get the face of a politician tattooed on you, which one would you choose? I wouldn’t dream of doing it. I wouldn't dream of it. What a funny question. 

What will you do on election night? I’ll watch TV and flick from one channel to the next so I can see what’s going on.

As told to Joel MacManus