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But now it has emerged that the Electoral Commission, the group responsible for organizing our elections, initially preferred a date of November 21.
A Justice Ministry document to Andrew Little on August 12, the day Auckland moved to closure, said the commission believed this date took into account “the usual events to avoid and the need to secure the venues , print materials for the public and communicate the change. “.
“Proceeding before this does not give you enough time to resubmit early voting services and on Election Day.”
A letter from the Elections Commission addressed to Minister Little and also sent to National’s Ardern and Judith Collins said the October 17 date “would not allow sufficient time for the Commission to review all existing arrangements for polling places, personnel and communications. electoral “.
In general, the commission wants to avoid holding an election date during school vacations or public holidays “as this can affect voter turnout.”
“The application of this advice to Saturdays after September 19 only leaves Saturday October 17 and Saturday November 21 as possible voting dates.”
On August 14, two days after the transition to the blockade, a Justice document analyzes what should be done to hold the elections on October 17 and how the risks could be mitigated.
He said the help of the Governmentwide COVID Response Group would be needed to conduct an election that day, that the workforce was the “most difficult risk to manage” and that the commission believed that many voting sites to date September would be available on October 17.
These documents were just some of hundreds of new reports, minutes and other documents released by the government on Friday.
In announcing the new date on August 17, Ardern said it would not change the date again.
“Continuously promoting an election does not reduce the risk of interruption and that is why the Electoral Commission has foreseen the possibility of holding an election where the country is at level 2, and some parties at level 3.”
Ardern said the October 17 date gave all parties time to campaign and “the Electoral Commission enough time to ensure that the elections can go ahead.”
The delay in the elections was supported by most of the political parties.
In a press release after Ardern announced the new date, Elections Director Alicia Wright said the commission was “confident that we can review our existing agreements by October 17.”
“These are challenging times for everyone, but we will have measures so that people can vote in person at a polling place this October.”
The commission said in August that it had always planned to conduct an election as if New Zealand were at alert level 2 “with up to 10 ‘clusters’ of up to 5,000 total cases at alert levels 3 and 4.”
“Health measures to be implemented include contact tracing, hand sanitizer and physical distancing at polling places, and providing protective equipment for staff if necessary. More polling places and voting times are also being planned. longer to reduce queues. “
New Zealand is currently at alert level 1. Auckland passed to the level on Wednesday night, just over a week before the election.
One of the documents from the Ministry of Justice indicates that having an election at alert level 3 or 4 would have “implications for the voter experience.”
“Face-to-face participation with voters, even for registration purposes, would be significantly reduced. There is also a risk that some people are less willing to go to a polling place or even use a mailbox, and this can decrease voter turnout. “
The commission was communicating with the Ministry of Health and could tailor the communications to address voters’ concerns. Voters would also be encouraged to vote early, he said.
Early voting began on October 3, and by the end of October 7, nearly 480,000 people had voted. That is much higher than at the same time in previous election cycles.
