Your guide to voting in the Port Waikato by-election
Vote in the Port Waikato by-election
This by-election is your opportunity to vote for a person to represent you and the Port Waikato electorate in Parliament.
Voting in the by-election begins on Monday 13 November. Your last chance to vote is on election day, Saturday 25 November.
Make sure you’re enrolled and your details are up to date.
To vote, you need to be enrolled. You must enrol if you are 18 years or older, a New Zealand citizen or a permanent resident, and you’ve lived in New Zealand continuously for 12 months or more at some time in your life.
You can only vote in the Port Waikato by-election if you are enrolled in the Port Waikato general electorate and you have lived in the electorate for more than one month.
If you live in the area and you are enrolled on the Māori electoral roll for Hauraki-Waikato, you’re not able to change rolls to vote in the Port Waikato by-election.
Your EasyVote pack
You’ll get an EasyVote pack if you were enrolled for the 2023 General Election on Saturday 14 October, including if you enrolled on election day.
Your EasyVote pack will tell you when you can vote and who you can vote for. Your pack will also include your personalised EasyVote card, which makes voting faster and easier. You can vote without your EasyVote card, but it may take longer.
If you enrolled after the 2023 General Election on Saturday 14 October, you won’t get your EasyVote card and you’ll need to cast a special vote.
Enrol, check or update your details online
It’s easy to enrol, check or update your details. Go online to vote.nz to check if you’re enrolled. You can enrol or update your details at vote.nz using your New Zealand driver licence, New Zealand passport or RealMe verified identity, or call 0800 36 76 56 to ask for an enrolment form to be sent to you.
Voting in the Port Waikato by-election
The Port Waikato by-election will be held on Saturday 25 November. You don’t need to wait until election day to vote.
You can vote from Monday 13 November to Friday 24 November at any advance voting place.
Voting opens: Monday 13 November
Voting closes: 7pm on election day, Saturday 25 November
The days and times when advance voting places are open vary. Check before you go to vote at vote.nz.
On election day, Saturday 25 November, all voting places will be open from 9am to 7pm. You can enrol at any voting place, including on election day. You’ll need to cast a special vote which takes longer.
Information about where and when to vote and who you can vote for is included in your EasyVote pack, at vote.nz or by calling 0800 36 76 56
Port Waikato electorate
The Port Waikato electorate is south of the Manukau Harbour and includes Clarks Beach, Waiuku, Pukekohe, Pōkeno and Te Kauwhata in the south.
How to vote
1 Bring your EasyVote card or voting slip
Take your EasyVote card or voting slip with you as it will make voting faster. You can still vote if you forget your card or slip or don’t have one.
2 Follow directions
Election workers at your voting place will show you what to do and where to go.
3 Vote in the Port Waikato by-election
You have one vote, for the candidate you want to be your local member of Parliament.
If you voted in the general election, your party vote was counted in the general election results.
4 Your electorate vote
Your electorate vote is for choosing the candidate you would like to be the member of Parliament (MP) for the area you live in. The candidate with the most votes in your electorate becomes your electorate MP.
On your voting paper, place a tick by the name of the candidate you would most like to represent your local area.
Place your voting paper in the ballot box provided
And that’s it — you’ve voted!
Where to get more information about enrolling and voting
• Visit vote.nz
•Call0800367656
• Visit facebook.com/voteNZ
If you know someone this information would help, please tell them about it. Information about enrolling and voting is also available in other languages at vote.nz
Can’t get to a voting place?
If getting to a voting place is difficult or not possible, several options are available to make sure you can still vote. If you’re in a care home, the Electorate Manager will contact the manager of your care home to arrange voting services.
If you can’t get to a voting place because you are in hospital, from Monday 13 November, a friend or family member can bring you your voting papers.
If you can’t get to a voting place, for example, because of illness, age or disability, you can get help to vote. Find out more at vote.nz or call 0800 36 76 56 to talk over your options.
Voting from overseas
If you’re voting from overseas, you must be enrolled by midnight Friday 24 November. You can enrol or update your details at vote.nz
You can vote from overseas from Wednesday 8 November until 7pm, Saturday 25 November (NZ time).
The easiest and quickest way to vote from overseas is to download and complete your voting papers and then upload them at vote.nz
You can also vote in person at an overseas voting place in London or Sydney, or ask them for postal voting papers to be sent to you. If these options don’t work for you, please contact us.
Check vote.nz for the latest information about voting from overseas.
If you need help to vote from overseas, please contact us.
Email: overseas@vote.nz
Phone from overseas: +64 9 909 4182 (international call rates may apply) Phone from New Zealand: 0800 36 76 56
Need help to read or mark your voting papers?
A friend, family member or electoral official can help you to read or mark your voting paper. That person can:
• go behind the voting screen with you
• read out the words and information on the voting paper • mark the voting paper for you if you ask them to.
They can’t tell you who you should vote for.
If you’re blind, partially blind or have a physical disability that means you can’t mark your voting paper without help, you can vote using the phone dictation service.
You need to register to use this service. Call 0800 028 028 and select option 1 to register.
You can register from Tuesday 17 October. Telephone dictation voting starts on Wednesday 8 November.
Visit vote.nz to find out more about this service.