Editing Early voting (section)

== Australia and New Zealand==
===Australia===
[[File:Pre-poll voting rates 2010–2025.svg|thumb|Chart of the number of pre-poll votes cast for Australian federal elections from 2010 to 2025]]
In Australia, where voting is compulsory,<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.aec.gov.au/Voting/Compulsory_Voting.htm |title=Compulsory Voting |date=18 May 2011 |website=Australian Electoral Commission |publisher=Commonwealth Government |access-date=November 5, 2018 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180921225146/https://www.aec.gov.au/Voting/Compulsory_Voting.htm |archive-date= Sep 21, 2018 }}</ref> early voting is usually known as "pre-poll voting". Voters are able to cast a pre-poll vote for a number of reasons, including being away from the electorate, travelling, impending maternity, being unable to leave one's workplace, having religious beliefs that prevent attendance at a polling place, or being more than 8&nbsp;km from a polling place.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.aec.gov.au/Voting/ways_to_vote/ |title=Voting |author=<!--Not stated--> |date=2018 |website=Australian Electoral Commission |publisher=Commonwealth Government |access-date=November 5, 2018 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181105160542/https://www.aec.gov.au/Voting/ways_to_vote/ |archive-date=November 5, 2018 }}</ref> There were over 600 early voting centres available in 2016.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-04-15/federal-election-2019-pre-polling-and-early-voting/11002874 |first1=Alle |last1=McMahon |title=Got plans on federal election day? Here's how you can cast your vote early|work=ABC News|date=April 30, 2019|access-date=May 27, 2020}}</ref>

At the [[2019 Australian federal election]], 6.1&nbsp;million votes were cast early (including postal votes), equating to 40.7 percent of total votes cast. This represented an increase from 26.4 percent at the [[2013 Australian federal election|2013 election]] and 13.7 percent at the [[2007 Australian federal election|2007 election]]. Following the 2019 elections, members of the parliamentary standing committee on electoral matters expressed concern about the length of the pre-poll voting period, suggesting that it was imposing costs on both the [[Australian Electoral Commission]] (AEC) and political parties, and that electors voting too early may be unable to respond to developments in the final weeks of the election campaign.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theaustralian.com.au/nation/politics/mps-scrutinise-early-votes-and-palmers-spree/news-story/7d4c2271b4186285978e7547b3bab17e |url-access=subscription |title=MPs scrutinise early votes and Palmer's spree|first=Rosie|last=Lewis|newspaper=The Australian|date=June 7, 2019|access-date=May 27, 2020}}</ref>

Hospitals and remote areas are served by [[Travelling Voting Booths]].{{citation needed|date=October 2024}}

===New Zealand ===
Early voting, or advance voting, has been possible in New Zealand without a reason since 2008. Advance voting opens 12 days before the election day, with around 500 polling booths set up across the country.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.elections.org.nz/news-media/advance-voting-starts-monday|title=Advance voting starts on Monday|work=Electoral Commission|access-date=September 24, 2017|language=en|archive-date=September 23, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170923231924/http://www.elections.org.nz/news-media/advance-voting-starts-monday|url-status=dead}}</ref> Voters attending an appropriate advance polling booth for their [[electoral district|electorate]] (constituency) can cast an ordinary vote in the same way they would if voting on election day. If the voter is outside the electorate, enrolled after the cutoff date (31 days before election day), or is on the unpublished roll, they must cast a [[special vote]].

In the [[2011 New Zealand general election|2011 election]], 334,600 advance votes were cast, representing 14.7% of all votes cast.<ref name="NZherald">{{cite news |first= Derek |last= Cheng |date= September 3, 2014 |title= In early to make your vote count – from today |url= http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11318064 |work=[[The New Zealand Herald]] |access-date= September 18, 2014}}</ref> This grew to 48% in the [[2017 New Zealand general election|2017 election]]<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://www.elections.org.nz/events/2017-general-election/advance-voting-statistics|title=Advance voting statistics|work=Electoral Commission|access-date=September 24, 2017|language=en|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170923144813/http://www.elections.org.nz/events/2017-general-election/advance-voting-statistics|archive-date=September 23, 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref> and to 66.7% in the [[2020 New Zealand general election|2020 election]]<ref>{{cite web|title=2020 General Election advance voting statistics|url=https://elections.nz/stats-and-research/2020-general-election-advance-voting-statistics/|access-date=6 October 2020|website=Elections|location=New Zealand|language=en-NZ|archive-date=5 October 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201005193121/https://elections.nz/stats-and-research/2020-general-election-advance-voting-statistics|url-status=live}}</ref>