New Zealanders living in Australia have been thrown a lifeline that could make them eligible to vote in this year's Kiwi election.
New Zealanders head to the polls on October 14, when Chris Hipkins' Labour government, inherited from Jacinda Ardern, vies for a third term.
There are around 700,000 Kiwis living in Australia, many of whom may be eligible to vote, though fewer than less than 10 per cent are currently registered.
Under usual electoral law, voters must have visited New Zealand in the past three years to be eligible to cast a ballot.
However, parliament has now widened that eligibility to reflect the difficulties of travel during the COVID-19 era.
NZ citizens can now vote if they have been home within the last six years, and NZ permanent residents can do so if they have visited in the last four.
"This is a temporary change made by parliament for New Zealanders living overseas who have been unable to return home in the past 3 years," Electoral Commission chief electoral officer Karl Le Quesne said.
Voters must be over 18 and have lived in New Zealand for 12 months consecutively at one point in their life.
Overseas voters contribute around two per cent of the ballots in a New Zealand election, with 62,787 cast in Jacinda Ardern's landslide win in 2020, and 61,452 in 2017.
The majority of those are in Australia.
"We encourage New Zealanders living overseas to check their eligibility and update their enrolment details if they need to at vote.nz," Mr Le Quesne said.
