Crip the vote: Accessible voting this election

It’s that time again. Political scandals, catastrophising vitriol, personal attacks… Election season is here. But let that not distract you from the important job of actually casting your vote. As disabled voters in Aotearoa there’s quite a few ways we can do that. They’re not exactly perfect, but I decided to have a bit of a kōrero with the Electoral Commission and get some of the tea on what accessible voting looks like in Aotearoa.

Here are a few TL;DR bullet points:

• You can vote from any voting location, from October 2 right through to 7pm on election day, October 14. You don’t need to be enrolled beforehand. You don’t even need ID.
• This map provides a list of voting locations. There is a filter for accessibility – 94% of voting locations are at least partially accessible (partial accessibility meaning there may be a step or steep ramp).
• Three voting locations (in Auckland, Wellington and Christchurch) offer NZSL voting – see locations and timetables here.
• If your disability prevents you from marking a paper to vote, you can register to use the telephone voting service. The telephone dictation service is available internationally for the first time this year.
• If you can’t get to a voting booth, you can get someone to pick up your voting papers for you or apply to have them sent to you. This is a “takeaway vote” – freephone 0800 36 56 76 for more info.
• Information on enrolling and voting is available online at vote.nz in alternate formats, audio, Braille, large print, Easy-Read and NZSL.
• If you have any questions, you can freephone the Electoral Commission support line on 0800 36 56 76.

You can vote in Aotearoa if you're over 18, a citizen or permanent resident, and have lived here for at least 12 months at some point in your life. 

Once you’ve got the information on candidates and know who you want to vote for (Policy.nz is a great resource for this – I’d also recommend checking the CCS Disability Policy Scorecard), what next?

Choosing a location

When you’re deciding which place to cast your vote from in-person, you can check the vote.nz map. The online map, as well as the paper maps that are sent out, mark which voting places are fully or partially accessible. A fully accessible location means there is independent access to and within the building, but a partially accessible location means there may be a step or steep ramp. This year, 94% of voting places have either full or partial accessibility. Voting places that are not accessible are only used if there is no alternative. 

Voting booth accessibility

Every publicly advertised voting place has an accessible voting booth where you can be seated in a provided chair, or your own wheelchair, while voting. You don’t need to book these in advance. If you need support with these areas on the day, the Electoral Commission (let’s call them the EC from now) asks that you hit up an EC official. 

Support people

If you’re heading to vote in-person, and you need assistance reading or marking your voting paper, a friend, family member or electoral official can be your support person at a voting place. Your support person can go behind the voting screen with you, read out the information on your voting paper, and mark the voting papers for you if you ask them to. Of course, your support person cannot tell you who you should vote for. All EC staff receive training, and should know about accessibility. If you’re not being provided with the access you should be, you may have to do a Karen and ask to speak to the manager. Ugh.

Telephone dictation service

If you’re blind (go team!), partially blind or have a physical disability that means you can’t mark your voting paper without help, you can vote using the telephone dictation service. Information on this service is, again, available on vote.nz. You can also find out more by giving Blind Low Vision a ring on 0800 24 33 33.

New Zealand Sign Language

This year we also have NZSL interpreters at three voting places in Auckland, Christchurch and Wellington. The EC tells me times and locations have been advised by “key, local representatives of the Deaf community”, but unfortunately it looks like they’re pretty limited.

In-house and takeaway voting

If you are unable to leave the place where you’re currently living, the EC has worked with local supported living providers and hospitals to provide in-house voting services, including bed-to-bed services. If you’re unable to get to or access a voting space from now until October 14, you’re able to apply for your voting papers to be sent to you, or for someone to pick them up on your behalf. This is called a takeaway vote. There’s more info online, or they suggested you give them a call.

What’s a special vote?

If your name is on the printed electoral roll at the voting place when you go to vote, you’ll cast an ordinary vote. If your name is not on the printed electoral roll at the voting place because you have not already enrolled to vote, you’ll cast a special vote. This applies whether you are voting with a support person or not.

If you’re making a special vote, you’ll need to fill out an extra form. If you need to enrol or update your enrolment, you’ll also need to complete an enrolment form. This means it may take you a little bit longer to complete your vote at a voting place. And secondly, when the votes are counted, special votes tend to come in last, because they need to be authenticated. That means if it’s a close election it could be our votes that make the difference!

The polls are open now – but it remains to be seen how much accessibility will be improved this year, in comparison to previous years. In the meantime, no matter where you sit on the political spectrum, you owe it to yourself to have your say in deciding who will be running the country from Parliament. And honestly, with the numbers looking the way they are, it is critical that we as disabled people get the chance to have our vote counted; we’re 24% of the population and that’s more than enough to influence change.