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CAMPAIGN JOURNAL: Surely there are fewer secrets a politician is willing to reveal.
Early voting opened on Saturday and Labor leader Jacinda Ardern and her partner, Clarke Gayford, headed to Mt Eden War Memorial Hall to cast their votes at 11 a.m.
After reaching for the ballot within a meter of distance between herself and the staff member (social distancing is in place at polling stations), Ardern checked four boxes and commented that Gayford was following her: “She really is. thinking ”.
New Zealand has conducted a secret ballot since 1871, meaning that only the voter knows who they voted for. However, outside the room, Ardern was happy to tell how he cast his electoral votes. One for the Labor Party, the other for herself, the candidate for the Labor electorate from Mt Albert.
DAVID BLANCO / THINGS
Labor leader Jacinda Ardern and her partner Clarke Gayford arrive at Mt Eden War Memorial Hall to cast their votes on Saturday. Early voting has been opened for the October 17 elections.
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Ardern was not the only politician or Labor leader to vote on Saturday. Former Prime Minister Helen Clark tweeted a photo of herself outside the same memorial hall that Ardern voted in.
Green Party co-leader James Shaw voted at the Sustainability Trust in Wellington early in the morning.
Kevin Stent
Green Party co-leader James Shaw votes at the Sustainability Trust, Wellington, making him an early voter and one of the first New Zealanders to cast their vote in the 2020 election.
Ardern’s next stop was a Labor Party event, at Sir Edmund Hillary Collegiate in Ōtara.
Volunteers called potential voters and encouraged them to go to the polls. Here, Ardern sat at a table and grabbed a cell phone, working on a list of party volunteers to call and say thanks.
Only one picked up the phone. One volunteer told Ardern that it was difficult to get people to answer the phone – it’s a good day, maybe they’re at the beach?
Speaking to reporters at the event, Ardern was asked about the news headlines: US President Donald Trump contracted Covid-19.
Trump appears to have taken a more informal approach to the highly communicable Covid-19 than leaders in New Zealand, which has kept a tight grip on the virus.
In August, the US President pointed to a second outbreak in Auckland, saying that while New Zealand had been “detained to try and make us look not so good”, it was having a “big outbreak”.
DAVID BLANCO / THINGS
Ardern checked four boxes on his ballot Saturday. She was happy to confirm that she voted “two ticks” for Labor, and although she previously voted for the End of Life Election Act in Parliament, she was not about to say how she voted in the other referendum: recreational cannabis.
Did Ardern see an irony in Trump now contracting the virus?
“It would be wrong in a situation where someone has Covid-19 to do more than wish them well and wish them a speedy recovery,” he said.
That message was carried through the New Zealand representatives in the United States.
Unlike UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, whom Ardern texted earlier this year when he battled the virus at hospital, she did not have Trump’s personal phone number handy.
When asked if he would rule out working with Advance NZ, if the party led by former National Party MP Jami-Lee Ross and blues guitarist Billy Te Kahika comes to Parliament, Ardern confirmed that he would.
The controversial party has been voting below the 5 percent threshold required to enter Parliament.
DAVID BLANCO / THINGS
Clarke Gayford casts her vows under the watchful eye of her partner, Prime Minister Ardern, at the Mt Eden War Memorial Hall.
“The fact that no one ever asked me is because people have rightly assumed that I do not want to work with Advance New Zealand. I do not agree with what they represent,” Ardern said.
And how did Gayford vote, earlier in the day? This was another secret that she was willing to share. Unsurprisingly, she voted for Labor, both for the party and for her candidate from Mt Albert.
