At least a dozen patients at North Shore Hospital were unable to vote in the general election, and there could be others, Tōpūtanga Tapuhi Kaitiaki o Aotearoa NZNO says.
NZNO delegate Sophie Tomes says NZNO is surveying its members at North Shore Hospital and Middlemore Hospital to reveal the extent of the issue after concerns were raised about numerous patients being unable to vote.
"At both North Shore and Middlemore the Electoral Commission had mobile voting teams onsite only on Friday 6 November. This is despite NZNO delegates urging the Electoral Commission ahead of election day to make the teams available on election day.
"Our patients have been denied democracy," Sophie Tomes says. " We have confirmed that at least 12 patients at North Shore were unable to vote including five from the Elective Surgery Centre, four from Ward 4 and three from Ward 15.
"These patients were bedridden and unable to get to the mobile voting team. They have been denied their democratic right. NZNO members reported voting for them personally was more challenging than previous elections with long queues on the Friday also preventing busy nurses from having their say.
"This has added to nurses' workloads and caused considerable distress, with nurses left supporting distressed patients, some of whom were unable to cast their votes.
"Unlike previous elections, there was very limited time for patients to vote. Electoral Commission staff were only on site on the Friday and were unable to reach all the patients who wanted to vote.
"NZNO understands the responsibility for organising patient voting shifted onto nurses following the disbanding of the Patient Experience team, which previously undertook this work. NZNO calls on Te Whatu Ora and the Electoral Commission to explain how this happened," Sophie Tomes says.