Instructions to make your vote count

Press, 12 July 1984, Page 9

Instructions to make your vote count

The countdown to the 1984 General Election is near-completed — electoral rolls are available for inspection, polling places have been advertised, and ballot papers printed. Everything is ready for New Zealanders to cast their votes on Saturday. Two issues will be decided: which political party will be the next Government and how the New Zealand liquor industry should be controlled. To ensure that their vote counts, voters must follow the directions on the voting papers. Voters who do not follow the instructions carefully run the risk of their papers being classed as informal, says the chief electoral officer, Mr Peter Horne. How to cast your vote 0 Polling places will be open from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Go into one in your district, give your name and address to the polling officer, who will then put a line through your details on the roll, and give you two voting papers. 0 Vote in private behind one of the voting screens. ® Read the instructions and vote the political candidate of your choice by putting a line through the names of those you do not wish to vote for. ® The general licensing poll is decided in the same way. There are three options — national continuance (continuing the present system of liquor control and sales), State purchase and control (the Government would own and control the industry), and national prohibition (the making and sale of liquor would not be allowed). Delete the options you do not wish to vote for. 0 If you make a mistake, take the voting papers back to the polling officer, who will issue new ones. ® Fold the completed voting papers separately and put them in the ballot box. Blind voters may bring someone with them to help them read and mark their papers. Voters having difficulty reading the papers should ask the polling officer for help and multilanguage pamphlets will be available for voters who have difficulty reading or understanding English. Several polling places in

each electorate have been designated as accessible for people in wheelchairs. A full list of polling places in Canterbury and Marlborough, including those suitable for the disabled, was printed in “The Press” on Tuesday. Who can vote Everyone whose name appears on the general and Maori rolls can vote on Saturday. However, several other groups are eligible to vote on election day by casting special votes. They are: 0 Persons entitled to enrol after the roll closed on June 18 and who satisfied the Registrar of Electors that they were entitled to a late enrolment. This includes voters who turned 18 years of age or completed their residential qualification after May 17 and before polling day. 0 Voters whose names have been wrongly crossed off the roll.

0 Those qualified to be registered in the electorate and who were registered in that electorate in 1981 or at a residence which is now in that electorate because of boundary changes. 0 Those who are qualified to be registered in the electorate and applied for registration since the 1981 election and before the roll closed at 6 p.m. on June 18. The last two groups include persons whose names were removed from the roll because they did not return the roll revision card sent to them earlier this year. They would be able to cast a vote only if they still qualified to enrol in the electorate. Mr Horne says that polling booth staff have been told that no-one will be refused a vote on polling day except in the two circumstances specified in the Electoral Act One related to challenging voters suspected of voting, or attempting to vote, twice; and the other concerned the issue of voting papers to persons not wishing to at-

tend a polling place. The legality of all special votes will be checked in the 10 days after the election. More special votes Special votes can also be cast by people who: 0 Will be overseas or out of their electorate on Saturday. 0 Are ill or infirm. 0 Are pregnant or have just had a baby. 0 Are on the Maori roll and voting at a general polling place, or a European voting at a Maori polling place. (A list of Maori polling places appeared in “The Press” on Tuesday). 0 Have a religious objection to voting on Saturday. ® Are travelling on polling day in conditions which prevent their casting a vote between 9 a.m. and 7 p.m. 0 Will not be within three kilometres of a polling

place at any time on election day. 0 Can satisfy a deputy returning officer that going to a polling place would cause hardship or serious inconvenience. A list of places and times that special votes can be cast before Saturday will be advertised and voters with any queries should telephone their electorate returning officer or the voters’ information officer at 50-887. Voting facilities will be made available in hospitals, old people’s homes, and other institutions. About 1.86 million people cast votes in the 1981 General Election and voting facilities for more people have been prepared this year, Mr Horne says. To help save time at polling places, Mr Horne suggests that voters who have difficulty with the English language or an unusual name should give the polling officer a piece of paper or enrolment confirmation card with , their name and address on it.