This continued a positive trend for advance voting in Aotearoa, with 1.2 million votes being cast in advance in 2017, 717,000 in 2014 and 330,000 in 2011.
The commission said it was unable to predict how many people would vote early this year.
In Whanganui, 88.17 per cent of eligible voters were enrolled to vote by September 10, slightly less than the national total of 90.5 per cent.
This figure is also slightly down from the number in the electorate enrolled to vote in the 2020 election, at 90.58 per cent.
By age, people aged 18-24 lag far behind the rest of the electorate with just 59.54 per cent of those eligible to vote enrolled.
Comparatively, enrolment figures for people aged 25-29 increase dramatically to 83.26 per cent and generally continue to increase as people age, with 99.35 per cent of people aged over 70 enrolled to vote.
However, people who did not enrol in the build-up to the election can enrol to vote at any voting place any time before 7pm on election day.
Advance voting places will be open from October 2 to October 13. Check vote.nz for individual opening days and times.
On election day, all voting places will be open from 9am to 7pm.
The commission said voting would only take around five minutes.
Once at a voting place, people will be given a voting paper, where they’ll be asked to place two ticks: one for the political party they support (party vote), and another for the person they want to be their local Member of Parliament (MP) and represent the electorate they are enrolled in (electorate vote).
In Whanganui, voters on the general roll can vote for the Whanganui electorate candidate. Voters on the Māori roll can vote for a candidate in Te Tai Hauāuru electorate.
Being on the general roll or Māori roll makes no difference to the party vote, as the same list of parties will be available to vote for on each.
Advance voting places open from October 2 in the Whanganui electorate
Whanganui
Aramoho School Hall/Pasifika Innovation Hub, 2 Mitchell St
Baden Powell Scout Hall, 13 Swiss Ave
Jubilee Stadium, 228 London St
Whanganui Cook Island Community Hall, 71 Puriri St (corner Harper St)
St Andrew’s Presbyterian Church, 42 Glasgow St
St Mary’s Church Hall, corner of Guyton Street & Wicksteed St
Hakeke Street Community Centre, 65 Hakeke St
Eltham
All Saints Church Hall, 88 King Edward St
Hāwera
Presbyterian Centre, 35 Argyle St
Pātea
Pātea Old Folks Association Hall, 139 Egmont St
Stratford
Stratford War Memorial Hall, 55 Miranda St
Ōpunake
Ōpunake High School Hall at 149-15 Tasman St will be open for advance voting on October 7-8 from 9am to 5pm, as will Ōpunake Library Plus, 43 Tasman St, from October 9-12 from 9am to 4.30pm and October 13 from 9am to 2pm.
A full list of all available voting locations for election day is available on the Electoral Commission’s website, vote.nz.
* An earlier version of this story reported all advance voting places would be open for set days and times. However, days and times may vary.
Finn Williams is a multimedia journalist for the Whanganui Chronicle. He joined the Chronicle in early 2022 and regularly covers stories about business, events and emergencies. He also enjoys writing opinion columns on whatever interests him.
