Election 2023: Some rural voters caught out by polling booth closures on election day

Thousands of rural voters could miss out on their right to cast a ballot in the general election next week, because hundreds of polling booths will be closed on election day.

More than 2600 polling booths are being set up across the country, 800 of which will open early, but 265 will not be open on polling day. Of those open only during advance voting, 61 are in rural electorates and 204 are in regional and urban electorates.

Uruti resident Dawn Bendall would not be casting her vote in the Taranaki-King Country electorate on 14 October like millions of other New Zealanders.

The polling booth at Uruti School, about 45km north of New Plymouth, will instead only be open for six hours this Sunday, 8 October.

Dawn only got wind of that earlier this week.

"How do I know that it is this Sunday from 9am until 2pm is that we got a pack with the voting card and on there I went through and had a look and it told me that for us it was available then, but that's the only communication that I know of about that."

She reckoned many of the area's 900 or so residents could be in the dark about the change.

"There hasn't been a lot of communication out there.

"I would not have known at all. I thought after seeing ... I just had a look through and saw this coming Sunday I've gotta go and vote ... I just thought that was the election day."

Whangamōmona farmer Pat Herlihy said election day at the settlement, about 60km inland from Stratford, usually involved a last-minute rush.

"If it's real fine, we'll all probably be rushing down about tea time just before it closes [at 6pm] or a bit earlier to vote, because we'll be busy working, docking and stuff like that."

Then it would be time for refreshments and a catch-up with some of the area's 140-odd locals.

"We usually just go down to the hall, put our vote in, and then we go to the local and have a beer and go home," Herlihy said,

But this year, there will be no dash after the farm work's done and that beer will have to be over lunch.

The Whangamōmona Hall polling booth is only open this Saturday, 7 October, between 9am and 3pm.

Herlihy reckoned that might catch a few people out.

"I think a lot of people will be confused because they'll think 'we'll go and vote today' and go 'why is there no voting? Oh that was last week'."

Huiakama School is about 20 minutes' drive out of Stratford.

Principal Carmen Wood said typically the polling booth there would be open until 6pm on election day.

But this year, it will only be open until 1pm this Sunday, 8 October.

She reckoned that put her community at a disadvantage.

"It's the middle of spring, it's a really busy time of year [on farms] and I know mornings in particular are very, very busy, so I think, it's a bit rough for my community.

"I think not everyone will be able to make it within those hours and I mean the expectation that they would drive half an hour plus into town to one of the other polling booths that are open on other days is a little unfair."

Wood said the change had not been well advertised and the school had been encouraged to push the message out to the community.

In a statement, the Electoral Commission said as in previous elections, the opening days and times of polling booths could vary across voting places.

"What times and days an individual location is open are determined by a number of factors, including the agreement with the individual location, staffing levels, and local demand."

In most cases, it said, its staff talked with local communities about how best to provide voting service locations on days and times that suited their local area.

The Electoral Commission said it currently had a nationwide information campaign underway encouraging people to check its website to find their nearest voting location.

Additionally, EasyVote packs included advice on the nearest polling booths.

*This story has been updated with details on number of polling booths in rural areas which are not open on election day.

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