A technology alliance to attract voters

[Commentary] Apparently one-third of Americans are pessimistic about tech -- and they’re more likely to be poor, less educated, and female. That’s approximately the same percentage of New Zealanders who abstained from voting in the last general election.

There’s a significant cross-over in the demographic as well -- the ‘missing million’ as they have come to be known in New Zealand are thought to be disproportionately poor and less educated, although the other defining characteristic is that they are younger than average.

So why is this demographic cross-over so interesting? Because a potentially curious electoral alliance between a far left political party -- Mana -- and a nascent ‘Internet Party’ led by an expatriate German Internet entrepreneur currently facing extradition to the United States to face breach of copyright charges -- the notorious Kim Dotcom -- might just determine the outcome of New Zealand’s September 20 general election.

At stake are the hearts, minds, and, most importantly, the votes, of the ‘missing million’ -- if only they can be stimulated out of apathy and induced to vote.

[Howell is general manager for the New Zealand Institute for the Study of Competition and Regulation]