Election 2026: Nurses’ union asks why Middlemore Hospital has no on-site voting booth
The New Zealand Nurses’ Organisation (NZNO) is calling for the Electoral Commission to explain why one of the country’s largest hospitals is operating without its own polling booth on, or before, election day.
According to vote.nz, the nearest polling station to Middlemore Hospital is at De La Salle College – about 450m from the hospital entrance as the crow flies.
All other public hospitals in Auckland – Auckland City, North Shore and Waitākere – have polling stations inside their main buildings.
The Association of Salaried Medical Specialists (ASMS) said none of its members had raised concerns, and the New Zealand Resident Doctors’ Association (NZRDA), which represents a large share of junior doctors, didn’t respond before publication.
But the NZNO, the largest union in the health sector, said nurses, patients and their whānau have questioned the absence of an accessible polling booth for Middlemore.
Middlemore nurse and NZNO delegate Beks Kelsey told the Herald colleagues were worried there was “a limited window of access” compared to other hospitals in the region.
“We did some research and we’ve noted that Auckland City Hospital has a polling booth open every single day, where you can vote for a minimum of eight hours, and that’s extended on election day,” they said.
“North Shore and Waitākere also have a physical polling booth on site within the hospital grounds.”
Kelsey said patients could spend between a day and a month – or longer – at Middlemore, and many were asking staff where to vote while in hospital.
“Then staff have been asking each other, ‘Oh, we don’t have a voting booth. Why don’t we have a voting booth?’”
The Electoral Commission’s deputy chief executive of operations Anusha Guler said it works directly with hospitals and provides services based on their abilities and available spaces.
Guler said the commission considers the safety of its employees, patients and hospital staff when organising hospital voting services.
“Our electorate manager has been working closely with Middlemore Hospital to arrange voting services for the 2026 general election; these are the same as the services provided in 2023,” Guler said.
A voting service would be available today for patients to vote.
“We are also working with the hospital to identify patients who have been in hospital for more than four days, as of November 6, to ensure they have been offered a special takeaway vote.”
Options remained available to people who couldn’t physically reach a polling booth, Guler said.
The commission decides where voting booths are placed but didn’t respond to questions about how it arrived at the decision not to install one at Middlemore.
Kelsey said nurses had been notified that a mobile voting service would be on site between 12.30pm and 7pm Friday, but patients needed to be informed beforehand when and where that was going to happen.
With no polling station at work, Kelsey said most colleagues were planning to cast their votes on their rostered days off.
“It’s unclear whether this service will also include staff and whānau, and we’re worried that it doesn’t provide the same flexibility as a polling facility,” they said.
“That’s awesome that that is there. However, it’s a limited service and it doesn’t answer the question of ... why we don’t have a physical polling booth on site.”
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