Advance polling offers voters head start

A number of New Zealanders will be able to cast their votes for the September 17 election from today.

Voters away from home or unable to get to a polling place on September 17 can cast their vote at an advance voting facility, and those overseas can download voting papers and vote by post or in person at 58 overseas posts.

Chief electoral officer David Henry said people can vote at any one of 227 advance voting facilities throughout the country. Advance voting is also a good option for people with disabilities.

Meanwhile, some 38,000 letters to overseas-based voters have been posted by the office since late July, advising them how they can vote.

Australia has the largest number of New Zealanders, with 22,267 letters sent across the Tasman. The UK has the second-largest contingent, with 7727 letters posted, then the United States with 2145.

A breakdown of the destinations the letters went to showed the Kiwi connection spans the globe. New Zealanders are in locales such as Switzerland, Sweden and Taiwan, but also in more far flung places such as Yemen, Slovenia, Slovakia, Azerbaijan, Bhutan, Botswana, Mongolia, North Korea and Guatemala.

In 2002, over 130,000 people voted in advance, accounting for 6 per cent of votes cast in the 2002 general election.

Casting the first vote

* Voting papers are not automatically sent to voters who are overseas. Voting papers can be downloaded from www.elections.org.nz Votes are only valid if they are posted or faxed from outside New Zealand. Voting cannot be done via email.

* Overseas voters can also apply for a postal vote from the chief electoral office or vote in person at any one of 58 overseas posts. Voting begins on August 31 and ends at 4pm (local time) on September 16 (but may close earlier in some countries if September 16 is a public holiday). Contact your closest overseas post for further information.

* A list of advance voting facilities and overseas posts, as well as voting papers, is available at www.elections.org.nz Those in New Zealand who are voting in advance can have ballot papers sent via the mail, or picked up by an agent. For more information, call 0800 36 76 56 or your electorate's returning officer.