File image. Photo: RNZ/Tim Collins
The principal of Huiakama School in Taranaki-King Country wants her community to know its polling booth will not be open on election day.
The school is a half an hour drive out of Stratford and Carmen Wood. In the past, its voting place had been open all day on election day.
But this year it is only open on Sunday, 8 October, from 9am to 1pm.
Wood said the Electoral Commission had told her the booth typically received about 60 votes.
But she said the reduced hours and change of day was unfair, and may reduce voter turnout.
"We're a busy farming community and a lot of our people will be working hard on [Sunday] morning feeding out. So I think it's a bit rough for my community because not everyone will be able to make it in those hours.
"Then the expectation that they would drive half an hour plus into town to one of [the] other polling booths that is open on other days is a little unfair".
Wood said the Electoral Commission had left it up to Huiakama School to advertise when the polling booth would be open.
Even so, people would not know about or be expecting the change, she said.
"We've put information out in our newsletter but not everyone reads all of that. Unless they properly read their voting pack, they won't be aware of it and they're going to show up here on election day and there is going to be nothing here".
Wood said her community was at a disadvantage in this year's election.
She said votes from small rural communities were not less valuable than those in the bigger centres.
A spokesperson for the Electoral Commission says it has a nationwide information campaign underway encouraging people to check its website to find their nearest polling booth.
Additionally, EasyVote packs include advice on nearest voting locations.
Various factors determined what times and days a polling booth was open, including the agreement with the location, staffing levels, and local demand, they said.
"For this election we have more the 2600 voting places across the country. This includes more than 800 voting places that will be open before election day, and 2300 that will be open on election day, Saturday 14 October. As we get closer to election day, more places will be open for longer."
Check polling booth opening hours here.
