Need help to vote?

You can get help to vote in the 2020 General Election and referendums if you need it. Options may include voting with help from a support person or the telephone dictation service.

Please call us on 0800 36 76 56 if you would like to discuss your options.

Voting with help from a support person

If you need help to read or mark your voting papers, a friend, family member or electoral official can be your support person. Your support person can:

go behind the voting screen with you

read out the words and information on your voting papers

mark the voting papers for you if you ask them to.

Your support person can’t tell you who you should vote for in the general election, or how you should vote in the referendums.

Voting with the telephone dictation service

If you’re blind, partially blind or have a physical disability that means you can’t mark your voting papers without help, you can vote using the telephone dictation service.

You need to register to use this service in the 2020 General Election and referendums, even if you’ve used it at previous elections.

If you’re registered to vote by telephone dictation, you can vote from Wednesday 2 September by calling 0800 028 028 and selecting option 2 to vote.

You can call weekdays from 9am to 5pm until Friday 11 September. From Monday 14 September you can call from 9am to 7pm.

Your last chance to vote is on election day, Saturday 19 September from 9am to 7pm.

Voting when you can’t get to a voting place

If getting to a voting place is difficult or impossible, there are several options available.

You can find more information under the voting section on vote.nz