MEDIA RELEASE

20 April 2009
Chief Electoral Office
Ministry of Justice

Chief Electoral Office Prepares For Voting In Mt Albert Electorate

The Chief Electoral Office is preparing to make it easy for voters to take part in the Parliamentary by-election in the Mt Albert electorate on Saturday 13 June.

The announcement of a by-election on 13 June triggers a chain of activity within the Chief Electoral Office to ensure a well run by-election in Mt Albert.

“We will be working in the community to ensure voters enrolled in the electorate know the major differences between this by-election and the 2008 General Election,” says Chief Electoral Officer, Robert Peden.

“Only people enrolled in the Mt Albert electorate are able to vote in the by-election and they have only one vote - for their electorate MP. There is no Party Vote,” says Mr Peden.

“All Mt Albert voters correctly enrolled in time will get an EasyVote card to take when they vote to make voting easier.

”The EasyVote card is an important feature of the Mt Albert by-election, and people are urged to enrol to vote as quickly as possible so they can receive their EasyVote card.”

The Chief Electoral Office expects to provide a similar number and location of polling places for the Mt Albert by-election as was provided for the electorate on election day last year.

Voters unable to vote at a polling place in the Mt Albert electorate on election day will be able to vote at an advance voting place before election day. Polling places will only be available inside the electorate on election day.

Advance voting and voting from overseas will start on Wednesday 27 May 2009.

Information about where to vote will be available from www.elections.org.nz from Tuesday 19 May 2009 and in the EasyVote pack.

The Chief Electoral Office must be ready to manage any electoral event. Its systems and processes are set up to deliver for voters if a by-election is called.

A timeline for the Mt Albert by-election is set out below.

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ENDS

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