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The Electoral Commission estimates that up to 500,000 people will vote early this weekend, bringing the total early votes to more than a million.
If accurate, that means that about half of the votes in the elections may have already been cast.
Exact figures for early voting on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays have not yet been released, and the latest official tally put the tally at 585,883 as of late Thursday.
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Judith Collins, leader of the National Party, speaks to the media after casting her vote.
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But an Election Commission spokeswoman said some 700,000 people had voted by the end of Friday and it is estimated that up to 500,000 more will vote on Saturday and Sunday.
“I can confirm that by the end of Friday, a total of approximately 700,000 people had voted. At the end of this weekend, we estimate that it could increase by up to 500,000, “said the spokeswoman.
That would put the total early vote at around 1.2 million, close to all the early vote in the last election.
If the same number of people voted in this election as in the last one, it would be 45 percent of the total votes. If all registrants ended up voting this time, it would represent 34 percent of the total vote.
The Electoral Commission expects about 60 percent of the votes to come early this year.
Politicians of all stripes are encouraging their supporters to get out there and vote for them right away, except Winston Peters, who has said he believes voters should bide their time.
“It’s a reflection of the old English saying that only a fool tests the water with both feet; he knows all the facts first,” Peters said last week.
Hannah Peters / Getty Images
An early voting booth.
Labor leader Jacinda Ardern has particularly lobbied early voting, campaigning near the voting booths and pouring cash into Facebook ads asking people to vote immediately.
“It’s about making sure we don’t leave anything to chance. If you leave it for the last day, things happen, life happens. We want to make sure people vote early so they don’t miss out, ”Ardern said Saturday.
“We have always been a party that wanted to make sure that people came out and voted. That’s why a lot of our candidates go out and vote upfront themselves, just as a sign. “
The National Party had also invested cash in Facebook ads that encouraged people to “vote for the National Party today.”
A quirk in the Electoral Law means that unrestricted campaigning is allowed during the early voting period, but not on Election Day.
The first votes begin counting at 9 a.m. On Election Day and the first results are published shortly after the polls close at 7 pm.
Eligible voters can register to vote until Election Day by simply showing up at the voting booth.
There are five more days of early voting before Election Day, October 17.
