The Electoral Commission said the easiest way to vote from overseas was to download voting papers from vote.nz and return them by uploading to the website. Photo: 123rf
Overseas voting for this year's general election is now open.
The Electoral Commission said overseas voters have until 7pm on election day, 14 October, to cast their vote.
There are 74 in-person voting locations overseas, including 10 in Australia, four each in China and the United States, and one in the United Kingdom.
The Commission said about 78,000 enrolled voters had an overseas address.
"If you're travelling or based overseas, you can still vote in the election. The easiest way to vote from overseas is to download your voting papers from vote.nz and return them by uploading to the website. In 2020, more than 90 percent of overseas voters used this service," said chief electoral officer Karl Le Quesne.
A tongue-in-cheek campaign has been launched in Australia to encourage people to vote with the slogan 'This New Zealand election, Australia decides'
The campaign by the group Every Kiwi Vote Counts is encouraging overseas New Zealanders to have their say regardless of their location.
In New Zealand, early voting starts on Monday. The Commission said in the 2020 election, more than two-thirds of votes were cast before election day.
"Voting places will be open before election day in convenient locations including shopping areas, transport hubs, kura, marae, community halls and sports clubs, to make it easy for people to vote as they go about their daily lives," Le Quesne said.
More than 400 voting places would be open on Monday.
"That number will increase as we head towards election day. The days and hours voting places are open before election day vary, so check before you go to vote."
On election day, Saturday 14 October, more than 2300 voting places will be open from 9am to 7pm, he said.
