It has never been easier to enrol and vote in a New Zealand general election, but it is not clear if that will translate into a higher turnout this year.
Advance voting in this year’s election began on Saturday and chief electoral officer Alicia Wright is expecting this to be popular. Last election, 47% of all voters cast their ballots early and she suggests it could be as many as 60% this time round.
Ms Wright is urging people to vote early and vote locally because it is more convenient and minimises the election day queues, lessening the risk of Covid-19.
With two referendums in the mix as well as our electorate and party votes, the procedure could take a little more time than usual too.
Those nervous about Covid-19 will be relieved to know that Alert Level 2 rules will apply in polling booths including physical distancing, use of hand sanitiser, voluntary contact tracing and single-use pens for marking papers.
A quick look at the advance voting places available shows a range of hours
on offer from 9am and some even open on Sundays. (We published the list of all polling places in our area and their opening hours in our edition last Friday, October 2.)
While some may feel sentimental about the old days when a large majority of votes were cast in polling booths only open on election day, the increased convenience of being able to vote over a two-week period is appreciated by many.
Those who have already made up their minds on who and what they want to vote for may be champing at the bit to get it over and done with, while the undecided may prefer to see what happens in the election campaign until the bitter end in the hope that will help galvanise their thinking.
Voters in places where they cannot get out to vote are catered for, including those in managed isolation and quarantine facilities.
An estimated 400,000 eligible voters are still missing from the rolls, with 90% of eligible voters enrolled, 1% up when compared with the situation at the same time in the 2017 election cycle.
As usual, enrolments in the 18 to 29-year-old group are lagging behind the other age groups, although at 73% of those eligible enrolled, compared with 70% at the same time last election, at least the trend is heading in the right direction.
However, elections are about more than complying with the law to enrol and, traditionally, those in the youngest age groups have had the lowest turnout figures, too.
Overall turnout at the 2017 election was 79.01%, while our last referendum ballot, the second of the controversial flag votes, attracted only a 67.8% response. That referendum was a postal one and did not coincide with a general election which may have affected the participation rate.
This year people will be able to enrol and vote up to election day, unlike in other years when there was an earlier cut-off point.
The Electoral Commission office says experience shows the enrolment increases as we head towards election day.
We hope those who have been slow to participate in the process so far will take the opportunity to do so in the next fortnight.
It may be time to replace the old joke "don’t vote, it only encourages them" with "if you don’t, you can’t complain about the result".
