Voting opens tomorrow

Voting in the New Zealand Flag Referendum opens tomorrow, and today the Electoral Commission aired the first ad (video above) reminding New Zealanders of that fact. If the first referendum is any guide, there will be one or two more before voting closes March 24.

The Electoral Commission didn’t run any voter registration reminder ads this time, which surprised me a little. I did think, though, that since there was so little time since the first referendum, the number of unregistered voters they might get signed up might not have been enough to justify the cost of advertising. As it happens, some news media outlets reminded people several times that the deadline was approaching.

The only other ad that’s been running on TV so far is the impartial ad from the Flag Consideration Project promoting awareness of the referendum in general terms. No advocacy ads have been on TV yet, though now that voting is open some may air.

Tomorrow is the first day our voting papers can arrive in the mail (we get mail on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday).