Local govt voter turnout thoughts.
Caveat: I haven't studied voter turnout in local elections, so these are musings rather than well-informed observations.
But I am nosy (aren't all social researchers?) and ask people about if vote & why so here are some musings on that basis: People tell me they find it hard to get a good sense of who all the different candidates are and what they stand for.
The party system that dominates national elections has it's many flaws, but it does give voters a shortcut to figuring out who stands for what.

This past weekend I went on a big walk. The threads some of you have done of your big walks have given me so much joy, I feel such a need for a bit more joy, that I decided to share some pictures and moments from my walk. Maybe they'll give you a smile this Monday morning. First challenge was getting out of Wellington after work on a Friday. After a false start, (forgot shoes) and a stop in Paraparaumu (for a sunhat, chapstick and burger) we finally left Otaki Forks at 7.30pm, in a gorgeous golden light.

I've been thinking a lot this week about transphobia, and the way that fear can be created & exploited for the purpose of oppression.

I recently went to the Museum of African American History and the Holocaust museum in DC. Both tell this story. I think the fear is very real for many people. In the same way that many Americans were genuinely afraid that desegregation would lead to white women being raped by black men, I think many cis-women are genuinely afraid of transwomen.