Recent electoral law changes mean voting in the upcoming general election will look a bit different.
Unlike previous years, on polling day November 7 you will no longer be able to register and vote on the same day.
“You have to enrol before you vote this year, so it’s two steps,” says Erin Temu, the Electoral Commission’s community engagement representative in Tāmaki Makurau-Auckland.
“In the last election you could enrol and vote at the same time but this year it’s different, so you have to be enrolled by the 25th of October and then you can start to vote on the 26th to the 7th of November so that is our key message for today.”
Temu and his team were out actively spreading this message at this year’s Pasifika Wellbeing Carnival at Bruce Pulman Park in Takanini recently.
As the world’s largest one-day junior rugby league tournament, the event featured over 200 Māori and Pasifika teams and drew more than 25,000 attendees.
Jeremiah Tuuaga, a community liaison for the Commission says the tournament was an ideal opportunity to inform eligible voters about the new regulations and to assist those unregistered to enrol.
“I’m just hoping that people can have their voices heard, have their opinions, you know, like listened to and yeah I’m just hoping people can focus on the future especially on the younger generation ‘cos it affects them the most.”
Another priority at the event was also to encourage people – especially younger voters – to actually exercise their vote when the time comes.
New Zealand continues to struggle with voter turnout; during the 2023 general election, enrolment was strong at 94.7 percent, but only 77.5 percent of eligible voters actually cast a ballot. Participation was particularly low among young adults aged 18 to 24, with only 60 percent enrolled nationwide.
Among the spectators at the carnival, many were still undecided.
One attendee admitted, “I’m thinking about it,” he said. “I’m a little bit confused, you know very soon I’m going to lose my job but I don’t know which government is going to give me a job.”
A young female noted that her key priorities were, “housing, health and the cost of living”, while an older gentleman explained that he was voting, “so we can help more of our Pacific islanders; it’s important to have a say in what’s going on in the government.”
Despite these varying perspectives, the upcoming election offers a shared opportunity for everyone to make their voices heard.
“People need to vote because they need to vote for the people they want to represent them in parliament,” says Temu.
“So when they align their values to the people that are standing, that’s when they’re able to get those people to form the policies that’re important for them, for this country and for their children and for their children’s children.”
