The Afghani sisters, refugees from Iran, are looking forward to voting for the first time in their lives in this year’s general election.
The pair arrived in New Zealand just over a year ago, and are both studying English at Otago Polytechnic in Dunedin.
Born in Iran to Afghani parents, they had few rights.
"We looked for a better life with citizen’s rights," Somayah said.
"Rights to work, rights to educate, rights to own something — this is what we didn’t have in Iran."
They could not hold driver’s licences and they definitely could not vote.
Somayah said it was hard to put into words what it meant to them to be able to exercise their democratic rights for the first time.
"It’s a new feeling ... but we like it. It’s really interesting for us to be able to think about the future.
"We feel part of the country, part of the community. We have roles here. Our voice matters."
Somayah said she was not a fan of politics. But she was paying attention to issues and different candidates to help make her decision.
"Now I have the right to choose what is important for me."
To anyone who was not planning to vote, they had a simple message.
"Having ... even a minor role in this big event is really effective," Somayah said.
"It’s that feeling that you can choose something. You are like other people, there is no difference between you and other people."
They are likely to join more than one million other Kiwis choosing to vote early.
About 700,000 people were believed to have voted by the end of Friday.
Statistics for yesterday and Saturday will be published today, but the Electoral Commission was expecting as many as 500,000 people to vote at the weekend.
This year, about 60% of votes were expected to be cast early.
