Antieuthanasia flyers not in voting packs: commission

WELLINGTON: The Electoral Commission is certain Votesafe antieuthanasia material was not included in the EasyVote packs sent out to 3.3 million voters.

The commission knows of 24 people across New Zealand who received the flyer asking them to vote No in the referendum in their official envelope.

Chief electoral officer Alicia Wright said the commission had investigated how it happened but had ruled out anything being added through the packaging machines.

‘‘Every scenario for the brochure to be inserted into the pack or swapped out with other material has been looked at and eliminated.’’

When lots of election material was delivered, people thought the items had arrived together, she said.

The voting packs are compiled at NZ Post sites in Auckland and Christchurch using a fully automated process.

The commission has confirmed NZ Post had run various tests and determined no additional material could have entered the process without detection by its machines.

Ms Wright said there was no evidence of foul play or tampering, but she had asked the police to investigate further. — RNZ