Ballot boxes taken home by officials

Labour leader Jacinda Ardern has questioned the security of early votes after finding out some electoral officials have been taking ballot boxes home in the evening.

An Electoral Commission spokeswoman said the ballot boxes were generally stored in solid, lockable rooms or cupboards at voting locations overnight.

But the need for a secure storage place at advanced voting places had to be balanced with the ability to offer services in some public spaces.

Where there were no suitable storage facilities on site, electoral officials and advance voting place managers might take materials back to the electorate headquarters, the spokeswoman said.

If none of those options were available, the commission allowed the electoral official to secure the voting materials at their home overnight.

‘‘This is a long-standing practice,’’ she said.

‘‘The Commission takes the security of voting materials very seriously and has a number of systems and processes to ensure voting materials are secure.’’

On Wednesday, the Labour leader said she was surprised to hear some officials took their ballot boxes home. ‘‘We have to have a high-trust relationship with the people who monitor and manage our electoral system.

‘‘They operate completely independently and I wouldn't criticise or support what they're doing’’ Bill English

We would hope that would be treated responsibly,’’ Ardern said.

‘‘It does leave some room for error though. And that may raise some questions in people’s minds. I would have thought there would have been a better way to secure our ballot boxes.’’

Bill English refused to comment on the commission’s processes.

‘‘They operate completely independently and I wouldn’t criticise or support what they’re doing. It’s entirely up to them,’’ English said.

‘‘We have, in New Zealand, a very thorough and professional way of running elections. I’ve got no reason to believe it won’t be the same this time

The commission said all ballot boxes were sealed throughout the voting period.

They did not say how many ballot boxes had been stored at an official’s house overnight.

A total of 551,482 Kiwis voted in the first five days of early voting.