For the second election running, an Upper Hutt garage is swapping cars for democracy.
By Justin Wong of Local Democracy Reporting
Kris Sanderson’s Riverstone Terraces home will again turn into the suburb’s only voting place on November 7 – a suburban pit‑stop where locals stroll in to choose their next MP.
Between 9am and 7pm on election day, the garage on Betty Watt Gr will transform into the suburb’s only voting place, joining more than 2300 locations nationwide – usually community halls, schools, shopping malls and marae – where voters choose their preferred local MP and political party.
It began three years ago, when Sanderson offered her garage as a voting place to spare neighbours a long trip – the nearest Upper Hutt booth isn’t served by weekend buses and her home is an easy walk for many locals.
On election day in 2023, 383 Remutaka electorate voters cast their ballots there, according to official voting figures from the Electoral Commission.
Betty Watt, the namesake of the street and a Hutt Valley sporting great who represented New Zealand in cricket and hockey, dropped by.
And before voting began this year, several neighbours asked Sanderson if they could vote at her garage again.
“A lot of people told me how much easier and more convenient it was,” Sanderson said. She’ll again serve as the voting place’s assistant on election day, repeating the role she first took on in 2023.
She said she’d enjoyed the experience and had met neighbours she’d previously only passed without speaking.
An Electoral Commission spokesperson said it considered a range of factors in choosing voting places across an electorate, such as their convenience, public transport options, availability, past voting patterns, political neutrality, security and disability and mobility access.
“We provide political parties with a list of draft voting places for their feedback before voting place locations are finalised.”
Including advance voting places, 2694 different voting places open at some point during the voting period.
When releasing the full list of voting places, chief electoral officer Karl Le Quesne said people should call 0800 36 76 56 to find their nearest booth or arrange alternatives if they couldn’t get to one.
“We want to say a big thank you to everyone who is hosting voting places for us to support democracy in their communities.”
Voting place locations are also listed on the Electoral Commission’s website.
– Local Democracy Reporting is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air
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