Last-minute flyers

You can't have a general election without a bit of controversy, and there was plenty for some to complain about on polling day.

With voters turning out in bright sunshine, and in what were tipped to be record numbers, Labour's candidate in the Auckland electorate of Epsom, Kate Sutton, was fuming about flyers delivered to mailboxes the previous few days.

The Herald on Sunday is unable to reprint the contents but can report the man responsible was Nicholas Keesing.

Keesing said his actions were not motivated by politics.

The Electoral Office also received complaints that people were holding Labour Party placards outside a polling station at Three Kings School in the Maungakiekie electorate yesterday morning, an offence under the Electoral Act.

Polling officials at the school said they saw no such activity.

Maori Party co-leader Tariana Turia has complained about the way electoral rolls are compiled. She said she and her husband were purged from their roll, even though they had not moved house.

Turia said that the process discriminated against Maori, a high proportion of whom were renters who moved regularly.

Meanwhile, the Green Party complained about a possible problem with an incorrect fax number supplied to voters in Australia who wanted to fax their voting forms to the Electoral Commission.

Greens campaign manager Pete Higgins said the party was hoping to get a lot of overseas support from special votes.

The Electoral Enrolment Centre said it was unaware of the problem and that forms from Australia were still being received yesterday.