Although this isn’t a political blog I do need to mention (for my overseas readers) that today brings us the 2005 General Election. Polls open at 9 am and close at 7 pm and even those, like me, who dislike politics and politicians will probably be keenly interested in the outcome. Opinion polls in recent weeks have been all over the place with no clear indication of either major party having a strong lead, and the minor parties similarly being sometimes above and sometimes below the threshold of 5% of votes.
My comments here will be very general — it seems I should have written my thoughts yesterday:
Voting, elections & referendums : No campaigning on election day: The Electoral Act prohibits campaigning of any kind on election day. … It is a criminal offence to distribute or broadcast any statement that is likely to influence a voter as to the candidate or party the voter should or shouldn’t vote for, or which influences people to abstain from voting.
On election day, candidates, political parties and others must: … Not post any new material on websites.
Interesting to see that the information leaflets about voting are in English, but with key information also in Māori, Cook Islands Maori, Samoan, Tongan, Korean, Chinese (traditional and simplified), Tokelau, Niuean, Somali, Farsi, Arabic, Vietnamese and Thai, reflecting our increasingly diverse population.
My hopes: that everyone will get out and vote in the way they see best benefits this fine country and the wider world.
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