Starting this week, the Dunedin City Council is holding some special voting pop-up sessions where voters can collect special voting papers and have their say in the local elections.
People need to cast a special vote if:
- they haven’t yet enrolled to vote
- they haven’t received a voting pack in the mail by Tuesday, 23 September
- their voting pack is lost or spoilt, and they need a replacement
- they are on the unpublished electoral roll
- their address or personal details on the electoral roll are out of date.
The pop-ups are happening at:
- Waikouaiti Library – Tuesday, 23 September, 11am to 1pm
- Blueskin Bay Library – Tuesday, 23 September, 2pm to 4pm
- Mosgiel Library – Wednesday, 24 September, 10am to 1pm
- Port Chalmers Library – Wednesday, 24 September, 2.30pm to 4.30pm
- University of Otago Link – Wednesday, 1 October, 10am to 2pm
- University of Otago Link – Thursday 2 October, 10am to 2pm.
Special voting papers are also available from the Electoral Office in the Civic Centre in the Octagon during business hours until Friday, 10 October. The office will have open evenings on Thursday, 25 September and Wednesday, 1 October from 5pm to 7pm as well.
“People can cast their vote when they collect their papers, or take the documents home to complete later,” says Dunedin City Council Deputy Electoral Officer, Robyn Dillon.
“Voting closes at midday on Saturday, 11 October, but voters should pop their completed voting papers in the post by 7 October at the latest, to ensure they are received in time to be counted. Alternatively, they can drop them into one of the orange voting bins located around the city.”
A full list of voting locations and closing times can be found at www.dunedin.govt.nz/vote
Ms Dillon is encouraging all eligible Dunedin voters to make sure they’re enrolled to vote.
“It’s not too late – you can still enrol right up until Friday, 10 October, the day before the polls close. It’s quick and easy to do online at vote.nz, so avoid post-election regret and go vote.”
In the last local elections in 2022, more than 96,000 Dunedin voters enrolled to vote, with a 49.9% return rate.
As of Friday, 19 September, about 2.4% of eligible votes have been returned in the Dunedin City Council electorate. The public can track Dunedin voting returns online at Elections NZ’s Returns Page.