Advance voting opens on Monday

Electors wanting to vote in this year’s general election can do so from Monday.

Voting ends at 7pm on election day, Saturday October 14.

“Voting places will be open before election day in convenient locations including shopping areas, transport hubs, kura, marae, community halls and sports clubs, to make it easy for people to vote as they go about their daily lives,” says Karl Le Quesne of the Electoral Commission.

“Voting before election day, also known as advance voting, has increased in popularity over the years.

“In 2020, 68 percent of votes were cast before election day.

“More than 400 voting places will be open on Monday. That number will increase as we head towards election day.

“The days and hours voting places are open before election day vary, so check before you go to vote,” Mr Le Quesne said. Polling booths can be found on a map online at vote.nz or by calling 0800 36 76 56.

On election day, Saturday October 14, more than 2300 voting places will be open from 9am to 7pm.

“If you were enrolled by September 10, you should get an EasyVote pack in the mail which includes a list of your local voting places. It also includes an EasyVote card which will make voting faster at the voting place,” he said.

“It’s not too late to enrol to vote in this year’s election. Eligible voters can fill out an enrolment form and vote at the same time at any voting place, including on election day.”

Overseas residents wanting to vote can do so from today. Telephone dictation voting also opens today for people who are blind, partially blind, or have a physical disability that means they cannot mark their voting paper without help.

Such voters will need to register to use the service and more information is available at vote.nz/telephone-dictation-voting.