NZ Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern makes some thank you phone calls to Labour volunteers during her visit to NZLP South Auckland Get Out The Vote. Photo / Brett Phibbs
Jacinda Ardern wants her supporters to get out and vote early to ensure Labour is able to build "a really strong mandate" to deliver a strong recovery.
But she's being careful not to get ahead of herself too early.
"I have a philosophy of always campaigning as though it could go either way," Ardern told media soon after she voted yesterday.
She was one of the first New Zealanders to vote in this year's election – yesterday inviting media to witness her casting her early ballot.
"Two ticks Labour," she said as she and her fiancé Clarke Gayford left the voting centre in her Mt Albert electorate.
Gayford said he also voted Labour twice – "he didn't get a choice," Ardern said.
The pair were among thousands who voted yesterday; the first official day of early voting.
An Electoral Commission spokeswoman said voting had been steady so far.
But there were reports of long lines at voting centres in some parts of the country.
That was not the case at the Mt Eden War Memorial where Ardern voted.
There were just a handful of others inside when the Prime Minister was voting – two people on the way out told Ardern they voted for her.
"Oh, thank you," Ardern said.
The level of early voting this election is expected to be the highest in New Zealand's history.
The Electoral Commission's Chief Electoral Officer Alicia Wright has said early voting could make up 60 per cent of the total overall number of votes. In 2017, early voting was 47 per cent.
And it might be higher still, given Ardern's push to get people out early to vote.
Speaking to a hall full of Labour volunteers in Ōtara, Ardern said this election would "set the direction for New Zealand over the next three years".
"For the next two weeks, our job is to make sure that everybody knows that the polls are open, that they can get down and cast their vote and, importantly, we will be asking them to vote for Labour," she told roughly 100 party faithful.
"We have the chance this election to build a really strong mandate for us to have a really strong recovery."
She then took to the phones herself.
"I'm doing thank yous to volunteers just so you know," she told watching media after her first call, which went to voicemail.
"It wasn't a presumptuous call to an undecided voter."
She called three more numbers before someone picked up.
"Thank you so much, how have you been finding it? How did you come to be involved? I'm really grateful for your help."
Ardern toured the phoning station, telling her supporters to keep up the good work, before fronting a media stand up.
She was coy when asked if she was confident about winning the election.
Labour is well ahead of National in the most recent poll, but it needs the support of the Greens to form a Government.
"No matter what, we never take anything for granted – that's the way we have campaigned all the way through," Ardern said.
After Auckland's second lockdown began in August, Ardern delayed the election by four weeks – the last day for voting is October 17.
She said her early ballot was an opportunity to signal to everyone that "those booths are open".
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