KEY POINTS:
Twenty-five thousand innovative postage-free cards are the latest tactic in the campaign to find tens of thousands of missing New Zealand voters living overseas.
People in New Zealand can send the cards free of charge to any overseas address, reminding Kiwi family and friends of their right to
vote in New Zealand's General Election on 8 November.
The cards are available from Wednesday 1 October on the retail counters of 157 PostShops throughout New Zealand. The cards are free of charge, and include international postage to anywhere in the world.
"We are thrilled to support the global effort to encourage eligible New Zealanders to enrol and vote," says John Allen, Chief Executive of New Zealand Post.
"Voting is an important way for the whole New Zealand community - including at least half a million of us living overseas - to contribute to our country."
Kea New Zealand, organizers of the Every Vote Counts campaign (www.everyvotecounts.co.nz) to enrol overseas voters, welcomes the "thoughtful and generous" support of New Zealand Post.
"Only New Zealand Post has the ability to enable tens of thousands of New Zealanders to reach their friends and family in this way," says Ivan Moss, Chief Executive of Kea New Zealand. "Its retail network and global reach make New Zealand Post a unique and valuable supporter of the Every Vote Counts campaign."
New Zealand citizens are eligible to vote from anywhere in the world if they have been in New Zealand at any time in the three years before election day. Enrolling and voting from overseas is simple. Eligible voters can enrol online and download their voting papers online, and return the paperwork by fax or post. There is no need to visit an Embassy or Consulate to enrol and vote.
Overseas voters can download their ballot papers online beginning Wednesday 22 October. The website www.everyvotecounts.co.nz has all the information overseas voters need to enrol and vote.
Currently about 50,000 New Zealanders overseas are enrolled to vote. Kea New Zealand estimates that ten times as many are eligible to vote - leaving hundreds of thousands of eligible voters missing.
In the 2005 election, only 28,000 votes were cast from overseas. Every Vote Counts is an initiative of Kea New Zealand (www.keanewzealand.com), an independent, non-government, non-profit Incorporated Society dedicated to encouraging overseas New Zealanders to maintain and deepen their connections with home.
The Every Vote Counts campaign is strictly non-partisan, and does not advocate that overseas New Zealanders vote for any particular political party or candidate, nor hold or act on any particular political opinion. No public funds are being used to support Every Vote Counts.
- NZPA