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First votes in New Zealand general election to cast on Wednesday

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-10-21 14:02

WELLINGTON -- The first votes in New Zealand' s general election will be cast from Wednesday by voters who can't get to a polling place in their electorate on November 8 Election Day.

Advance voting opens at 9:00 am on Wednesday and closes at 6:00 pm on November 7.

"Advance voting makes voting easier for people who may be on holiday, working or can't get to a polling place in their electorate on election day for some reason," said Robert Peden, Chief Electoral Officer.

More than 250 advance voting places will be available for people to go to vote.

In 2005, 197,938 or 8.59 percent of votes were advance votes, this compares to 132,609 or 6.45 percent in 2002.