Telephone Dictation Voting for the Northland by-election
Adapted in accordance with Section 69 of the Copyright Act 1994 by the Royal New Zealand Foundation of the Blind, for the sole use of persons who have a print disability.
Produced 2015 by Accessible Format Production, Blind Foundation, Auckland, New Zealand
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Telephone Dictation Voting for the Northland by-election
Anyone who is enrolled to vote in the Northland general electorate and is blind, partially blind or has another physical disability that prevents them from marking their ballot paper without assistance is eligible to vote by telephone dictation at the Northland by-election.
Register to vote for telephone dictation voting by 5pm, Thursday 26 March
If you meet the eligibility criteria and would like to vote by telephone dictation then you need to register before you vote.
You can register from Tuesday 24 February by calling 0800 028 028. You can call to register weekdays from 9am to 5pm.
You must be registered to vote by telephone dictation by 5pm, Thursday 26 March—two days before election day. If you haven’t registered by this time you won’t be able to vote by telephone dictation but you can still vote at any advance voting place before election day or at any voting place on election day, Saturday 28 March.
When you register, you will be asked to choose a secret question and answer that only you know and will be given a personal registration number. You can choose from one of three secret questions:
· The name of your first pet; or
· The name of the street you grew up in; or
· The name of the primary school you attended.
Your registration number and secret question is used to confirm that you’re already registered when you call back to vote without giving your name to the electoral official. Please don’t tell anyone your secret question or the answer to it until you call back to vote.
Your registration number can be sent to you by mail, email, text message or over the phone. Make sure you are ready to record your personal registration number if you want to receive it over the phone.
You’ll need to know your registration number and the answer to your secret question when you call back to vote.
How to vote by telephone dictation voting
Voting starts on Wednesday 11 March. To vote, call 0800 028 028 and provide your registration number and answer to your secret question to the electoral official. Do not give your name to the electoral official—they won’t know your identity and your vote is secret.
The electoral official will read out the names of all the candidates standing in the Northland by-election. They will mark your ballot paper according to your instructions.
A second electoral official will confirm that the ballot paper has been marked according to your instructions.
In this by-election you have one vote only, for the candidate you want to be your local member of Parliament. This is different from a general election where you have two votes—one for a Party and the other for your local candidate.
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Voting by telephone dictation opens Wednesday 11 March. You can call weekdays from 9am to 5pm.
Your last chance to vote is on Election Day, Saturday 28 March from 9am to 7pm.
End of Telephone Dictation Voting for the Northland by-election