Richard Prebble
Columnist, former cabinet minister and ACT Party leader.
I had not intended to vote yesterday. I like to wait until election day. What if there is a dramatic development?
But at the mall with my 11-year-old grandson, we encountered a huge polling station. He wanted to see me vote.
It was a slick operation. A queue of all ages moved quickly. A polling clerk told me voting had been heavy all weekend. By Friday, nearly 600,000 votes had been cast, 32 per cent more than at the same stage in 2023.
When the Electoral Commission publishes the weekend figures, I would not be surprised if the total approaches a million. That is about a third of the expected vote.
When I was an MP, advance voting required a special reason and a declaration. Since 2011 anyone can vote early. Now for two weeks polling stations are everywhere.
The Electoral Commission is so efficient that it takes a deliberate decision not to enrol and another deliberate decision not to vote. That should help the left, especially parties attracting younger voters.
Early voting makes a nonsense of the ban on election-day campaigning when we effectively have 12 election days.
Parties’ daily tracking polls revealed that the final week was often vital for minor parties. Voters often decide late what to do with their second vote.
New parties lack tribal loyalty. Their campaigns matter.
TOP risks missing the threshold, but high enrolment and turnout must assist the party.
The campaign has another week to run but with such high early voting is the election effectively decided?
This article was originally published by I’ve Been Thinking.
