Have your say in the 2020 General Elections

,

The 2020 General Election have been moved to October 17, which has affected the events organised by disability groups around New Zealand to get our community involved. Please check the dates below.

The Electoral Commission is providing Easy To Read material to understand the process. 

CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD. 

This year there are also two referendums that you can vote on – the Cannabis legalisation and control referendum and the End of Life Choice referendum.

If you haven’t already, now is a good time to enrol to vote. There is information about how to vote in accessible formats.

If you need help to vote there are options which include voting with help from a support person or the phone dictation service. Find out about the options for help/alternative ways to vote.

You can find out more about the referendums at referendums.govt.nz. Referendum information has also been put together in accessible formats.

Election Forums

DPA has been collaborating with various other organisations around the country to organise Election Forums – meetings focused on disability issues where you can hear from candidates and ask questions.

 

Christchurch Election Forum

When: September 19, 1pm – 4pm
Where: Deaf Society of Canterbury, 80 Fitzgerald Ave, Christchurch

(This forum was originally planned to be held on August 22 and has now been moved forward to September 19.)

This is your chance to tell the main political parties about the important issues affecting the Deaf and disabled community.

There will be speeches and a question and answer session (Q and A facilitated by Karim Baradi).
Afternoon tea and NZSL interpreters will be provided.

For more info contact [email protected]

This forum is hosted by DPA and the Deaf Society of Canterbury

 

Waikato Election Forum – cancelled

When: August 24, 6.30-8.30pm
Where: Blind Low Vision NZ, 15 Liverpool Street, Hamilton

Plans are currently for questions to be emailed out to candidates and either written or videoed responses shared via Zoom at a later date TBC.

Wellington Election Forum

When: 1 October, 4pm
Where: Wharewaka Function Centre, Taranaki Wharf, 2 Taranaki Street, (waterfront) Wellington

(This forum was originally planned to be held on 26 August and has now been moved forward to 1 October. It is possible some of the political panel names may change, but we hope to be able to update soon once the panel for the new date is confirmed.)

The candidates on the panel are Greens MP Jan Logie, Alfred Ngaro from National, Labour’s Greg O’Connor, Erika Harvey from New Zealand First and Simon Court from ACT.

Our six areas of focus for this election are education, housing, employment, the health and disability review and proposed restructure of disability support services, improving wellbeing for disabled people and welfare reform and ensuring infrastructure and transport is accessible for disabled people in the COVID recovery.

Please register to attend or for details of the livestream event

This event is hosted in partnership: DPA, CCS Disability Action, IHC, Deaf Aotearoa, NZDSN and People First

Auckland Election Forum

When: 29 August 2010, 1-3 pm
Where: Now online only due to the new Covid-19 alert level

(Read the Easy Read version of this invitation)

 Note: In consideration of the move to Alert Level 3 in Auckland, a decision has been made to move the upcoming Auckland election forum to an online-only event at the same date and time. Revised plans are currently underway and we will update this page as more information becomes available.

My Voice Matters is holding an election forum in Auckland to inform you on disability issues before the General Election. NZSL interpreters will be there. The event will also be live streamed.

Please register to attend the event in person or online.

We will be joined on the panel by Minister Carmel Sepuloni from New Zealand Labour Party, Ms Golriz Ghahraman MP from Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand, Mr David Seymour MP from ACT, Hon Maggie Barry MP from NZ National Party, and Mr Robert Gore from New Zealand First.

The candidates will be asked a range of disability-related questions on topics like housing, education, employment, transport, accessibility laws, and the health and disability review. The forum will be followed by light refreshments.

This event is a My Voice Matters New Zealand collaboration with Blind Citizens NZ, Blind Low Vision NZ, CCS Disability Action, Cerebral Palsy Society of New Zealand, Complex Care Group, Deaf Aotearoa, Disability Connect, Disabled Persons Assembly NZ – DPA, Epic Studios, Lifewise, Manawanui, The Muscular Dystrophy Association of NZ, New Zealand Disability Support Network – NZDSN, People First New Zealand, Vaka Tautua and YES Disability Resource Centre.

Dunedin Election Forum

Postponed – new date TBA

When: 8 September,  6-8 pm
Where: Blind Low Vision NZ Rooms, 458 Hillside Road, South Dunedin

DPA has been collaborating with various other organisations around the country to organise Election Forums – meetings focused on disability issues where you can hear from candidates and ask questions.

 

COMPARE YOUR CANDIDATES

The Spinoff has created a great website to compare parties, candidates and policies to help decide you vote.

Please follow this link to get to their website.