From exam season to death itself, eight Aucklanders give their reasons for advance voting

At an Auckland Central polling booth, The Spinoff hears the practical and personal rationale for casting an advance vote.

There’s a steady succession of voters ascending the stairway to democracy at the Ellen Melville Centre. This polling booth in the middle of Auckland City gets plenty of foot traffic from the area’s university student, small business owners, and the occasional suit and tie. It’s two days since advance voting opened, and those putting their votes in the ballot box have myriad reasons to do it early – whether it's the threat of exam season, or death itself.

So far, a solid 68,944 people had already cast their ballot by the time the first day of advance voting closed on Monday. That’s a nice jump from the number of first day votes cast in 2023 (65,845) but still a small fraction (1.84%) of the entire enrolled voting population. With day-of enrolments scrapped, there’s been plenty of hype around advance voting as opposition parties cry voter suppression. But if you ask those heading to the booths already, the urgency doesn’t always come down to a deep desire to overthrow the coalition.

One elderly gentleman has turned up here today because he knows he’ll be scrutineering on November 7. Another man, Mike, has time off work for the next two weeks and figured he might as well get this done while running other errands. His next stop: the Unity Books down the road.

Kathleen reckons some people might take one look at her and assume which boxes she’s ticked on her ballot today. She’s typically a “last-minute, on-the-day voter”, but things have felt more urgent this year.  “It’s been more on my mind this year, because I’m really keen to see a change in government,” Kathleen says. “I have really politically informed children, and they’re saying to everyone, ‘go out and vote!’ Kathleen’s “not at all worried” her mind will change between now and election day. Traditionally, she’s always voted for the same party.

For the first time voters, it’s all about being a part of the excitement – and managing their schooling schedules. University students Ryan and Rafe have exams to prepare for over the next few weeks; with “stressful times” ahead, it’s important to vote while they’re still “sound of mind”. They both found the enrolment process easy.

Frances, on the other hand, shuffled here today because by tomorrow, “I might be signing off entirely”. The terminal illness Frances lives with means her memory is almost completely gone, so “we just wanted to make sure it was done,” says her orange-haired pal Josh, “before she was deemed unable to make that decision.”

Around 1,450 New Zealanders will die in the two weeks between the start of advance voting and election day. The Electoral Act 1993 states that if a person votes but dies before election day, their vote will be thrown out. If they die on election day and have already voted, their ballot will be counted. Voters with reduced cognitive function are also allowed to vote, and are able to bring support persons with them to the polling booth to cast their vote on their behalf.

Auckland’s sky teeters between sunshine and grey rain when Michelle drops by, while her boyfriend gets a haircut down the road. She’s a first-time voter, and slightly unsure whether she’ll regret the decision she made today, because “I’m not really educated around it – I’ve just been going off what my environment tells me”. Michelle’s vote was guided by her grandparents; “how they’re affected and their perspectives and experiences.”

“My dad and I were having a conversation the other day,” Michelle explains. “I was like, ‘oh shit, maybe I should go’. Because he was like, ‘if you don’t vote, don’t complain to me about everything.’”

One of the last voters of the day is Jakub, who cuts an impressively tall figure as he strides out of the Ellen Melville Centre. The Polish expat is “older than democracy” in his home country, which formed a modern democratic Third Poland Republic following the end of communist rule in 1989. Jakub gained the right to vote in New Zealand seven years ago, and this is his second time participating in our democracy – as always, he’s casting his ballot early.

“In my home country, a lot of tears were shed to achieve voting rights. As a slowly transitioning Kiwi, it is my civil and moral obligation to do the right thing and use democracy when we have it,” Jakub says. “I always tell people, no matter your political preferences, you always use the privilege to actually choose who rules this island.”