Election staff told to let unenrolled people vote if upset – but it won't count

Staff working at voting booths have been told to let people vote if they’re upset about not being enrolled, even though it won’t count.

Several people working on this year’s general election have told Newstalk ZB they’ve been advised that, if people turn up to cast a ballot but are not on the roll, and get irate and insist on voting, they’ll be allowed to cast a special vote.

Illegitimate votes will then be weeded out.

Staff spoken to say they were advised to give unregistered voters information to enrol for the next election, but if people were persistent, angry, or demanding to vote, workers should issue a special vote.

If a voter is not enrolled, their ballot will not count.

It’s understood staff were given this advice in training sessions, as a way to de-escalate potentially tense situations at the ballot box.

The Electoral Commission told Newstalk ZB that, when people arrived at a voting place, they would be greeted and asked whether they had an EasyVote card, either on paper or digitally.

“If not, our staff will go through a series of questions to help establish if the person is enrolled and the electorate they’re enrolled in.

“If someone is not sure if they are enrolled, they will be given a special vote. Our staff will explain that whether their vote will count will depend on their enrolment, which will be checked after election day.”

If someone was not enrolled, their vote would be disallowed.

The commission said it would record the number of disallowed votes in the final election results.

Since enrolment changes were announced last year, the commission has been advising that anyone not enrolled by midnight on October 25 either cannot vote or their vote will not be counted.

Anyone applying to update their address to a new electorate would remain enrolled at their previous address, and only their party vote would be counted when their vote was processed.

Those applying to update their addresses within the same electorate will not be affected.

Same-day enrolment was scrapped for Election 2026 by a law change that closed enrolment 13 days before the election.

Since then, Government ministers and the Electoral Commission have repeatedly urged people to enrol before election day.

Labour leader Chris Hipkins has previously warned that the changes could cause problems. “We’re going to have people showing up at the polling booth and realising too late that they’re not on the roll ... there’ll be a big outcry when a whole lot of people who didn’t know that they weren’t on the roll show up and find that their vote’s not going to count.”

The coalition has defended the changes, with National leader Christopher Luxon saying, “It’s not rocket science.”

When the changes were announced, Justice Minister Paul Goldsmith said closing enrolment before advance voting was a “significant but necessary change”.

“The Electoral Commission will have plenty of time to run an education campaign to ensure people understand the new requirements. For Australia’s federal election earlier this year, the enrolment deadline was 26 days before election day. I have every confidence New Zealand can manage within the 13-day deadline.”

Azaria Howell is a multimedia reporter working from Parliament’s press gallery. She joined NZME in 2022 and became a Newstalk ZB political reporter in late 2024, with a keen interest in public service agency reform and government spending.