Election 2020: Judith Collins places early voting in Tāmaki electorate

National Leader Judith Collins participated in the early voting action by casting her vote in Auckland’s Tamaki.

Collins, who is part of Papakura’s electorate, lives in Tāmaki, a comfortable seat occupied by national MP Simon O’Connor.

He arrived at around 11 a.m. to place his vote at St Thomas Tāmaki, stopping at the chapel to offer a prayer before entering to vote.

“It was a really easy choice – two blue marks,” Collins said.

He also revealed that he voted in favor of the end-of-life election bill and against the cannabis control and legalization bill.

O’Connor won the Tāmaki seat in 2017 by a margin of 15,402.

The seat has been held by national deputies since 1960 when it was won by Rob Muldoon, who served as prime minister from 1975 to 1984.

In 2017, National also won the largest share of Tāmaki’s party’s votes at 62 percent compared to Labor’s 25 percent.

None of the other five candidates have been in parliament before.

Meanwhile, Collins remains a clear favorite to be re-elected to her position at Papakura, which she has held since 2002.

In the 2017 elections, he won with a margin of 7,486.

In 2017, National also won the party’s highest share of votes at 51 percent compared to Labor’s 34 percent.

However, the boundary changes this year mean that the electorate has changed significantly, with the northeastern part of the former Hunua electorate winning.

Labor leader and Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern cast her vote Saturday at Mt Albert, just hours after the early voting period began.

“Two ticks Labor,” he told reporters,

She was joined by her fiancé Clarke Gayford, who also voted for Labor and Ardern; she is the local candidate at Mt Albert.

“He had no other choice,” Ardern joked as the couple left the voting station.

Elections Commission Director of Elections Alicia Wright has said early voting could account for 60 percent of the total number of votes. In 2017, early voting was 47 percent.

The commission has been encouraging people to get out early and vote. The last day of the voting period is October 17.

Covid-19 significantly changed the plans for the elections, which were initially scheduled for September 19.

Election results will be released as they are released the night of October 17.

But the initial results of the end-of-life election and cannabis referendum will not be known until October 30, and full results will not be confirmed until November 6.