Australian-based Kiwis will be among the first to cast ballots in the New Zealand election, urged on by a nonpartisan campaign effort.
Lobby group Every Kiwi Vote Counts is hoping to convince every expat New Zealander to participate in the October 14 poll, with overseas voting beginning on Wednesday.
"Democracy only works if we are all part of it," group founder Tracey Lee, a New York-based brand strategist, said.
Every Kiwi Vote Counts cares so much about the overseas franchise it has funded and launched a website and advertising effort to engage the expat vote.
The group has created a tongue-in-cheek ad featuring pavlova-carrying fictional voter Darryl Brown, who tells Australians to make a difference in the Kiwi vote.
There are an estimated one million overseas-based New Zealanders, with more than half living in Australia.
At the last poll in 2020, around 2.9 million Kiwis cast ballots, meaning the potential for overseas voters to swing the outcome exists.
"People think their votes don't really matter," Ms Lee said.
"But you're talking about half a million potential votes in Australia and that's a significant constituency."
The influence of overseas voters has been small in recent polls, though it is growing.
Last decade, around one per cent of the overall vote was from overseas, though at the last two polls, that has grown to above two per cent.
Parties are also taking the overseas vote more seriously in 2023.
The centre-right National party, which boasts a poll lead and is favoured to win office from Labour, has launched an overseas-specific website with voting instructions in both English and Mandarin.
"We're chasing votes from overseas and every little bit counts," campaign chair Chris Bishop told AAP.
National hopes to unearth voters from overseas who were frustrated by New Zealand's tough border laws during the pandemic.
Labour also hopes to gain new voters who may be grateful for its lobbying of the Australian government, which tweaked citizenship laws to make it easier for long-term Kiwi residents to become Australian citizens.
Ms Lee is adamant she's not pulling for any party, just for Kiwis to vote.
"What I'm certainly not trying to do is stir up any sort of payback vote (from COVID-19 restrictions)," she said.
However, Ms Lee does have grander plans for her campaign: to start a conversation about an overseas constituency, or a Minister for Overseas Kiwis.
More than a dozen countries, including Italy, France and Croatia, have dedicated seats in their parliaments for expat citizens.
"It's not an obvious thing to think about but these are the things that, if we were to start voting in bigger numbers, it comes on the table," Ms Lee said.
"We should absolutely be looking at doing that. Let's get more people participating and then it would become apparent."
OVERSEAS VOTING IN THE NEW ZEALAND ELECTION
* From Wednesday, September 27, overseas-based Kiwis can vote in the New Zealand election
* Voters must be 18 years of age, lived in New Zealand for at least a year continuously, and have visited New Zealand within the last six years (or in the last four years, for Australians)
* Voters can enrol as late as midnight on October 13, the day before the election
* Kiwis in Australia can vote in one of two ways: by downloading their papers, filling them out, and uploading them to the Electoral Commission, or by visiting a polling place
* The Electoral Commission has 10 polling places in Australia: at each state and territory's electoral commission headquarters, as well as the High Commission in Canberra and the consul-general's office in Sydney
* Full details are available at vote.nz
