Hamilton Mayoral candidate, Angela O’Leary, has slammed the rules for out-of-town voting in the local authority elections being held this month and next.

“There appears to be no provision for special voters in the same way that there is for a general election,” says Ms O’Leary.

She said that she’s had inquiries from some supporters who would be out of the country or out of town during the election to find out how they could vote.

“What I discovered was that not only is there no way to vote early before departure but is there no way to cast any type of special vote at all in the local elections.

“If you are going to be travelling out of the country or out of town between 20th September and 12 October you are effectively disenfranchised.”

Ms O’Leary said she contacted the New Zealand Electoral Commission about the rules for special votes in the local authority elections but was told they only look after the general election and was referred to the Council’s electoral officer.

She said it’s clear that the Government doesn’t take local authority elections seriously enough and this is reflected in the consistent decline in the voter turnout for local authority elections.

“Only one in three registered Hamilton voters exercised their vote in the 2016 election.

“And we wonder why people don’t bother when we don’t even make the system accessible to people who are out of town.”

“No-one travelling overseas on business or on holiday, or travelling around New Zealand in a campervan, which many do at this time of the year, is going to go to the trouble of having their voting papers forwarded to an alternative address, fill out the papers and post them back – which seems to be the only way to exercise your democratic right to vote in the Council elections.

“Unlike the General Elections overseas voters can vote by mail, fax, online, or cast an early vote – no such equity with people wanting to vote in Local Elections.”

O’Leary said she was surprised to discover that it would be so difficult for out-of-town voters to exercise their vote and that it was time this was remedied.

If anyone has any queries regarding voting this election they should contact the Electoral Officer, Dale Ofsoske at dale.ofsoske@electionservices.co.nz

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