New Zealand PM Jacinda Ardern encourages supporters to vote in upcoming election

New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern visited her supporters in Labour Party dominant regions on Saturday, October 10 and encouraged them to cast their votes in the upcoming general elections scheduled for October 17. According to the reports, Ardern was surrounded by supporters during her visit to a market in Otara, a southern Auckland suburb.

According to reports, the pre-election polls project the Labour Party leading over the National Party by as many as 13 points. In addition, Ardern visited Otara in an effort to get out the vote in an electorate in which Labour out-polls National by around four votes to one. 

Ardern said, "We’re seeing really high turnout at the moment for advance voting". "We want to make sure everyone uses their voice until election day", she added. 

READ: New Zealand PM Jacinda Ardern Hopes To Win Election For Her Successful COVID-19 Response

With few weeks left for polls, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern is campaigning for a second term riding on the success of her administration's COVID-19 pandemic response.

Ardern, who in 2017 became the youngest female Prime Minister in the world, has been praised for her quick reaction to the pandemic. Taking the hard path, the New Zealand leader imposed a level 4 lockdown even before the virus has spread in the country. Under Ardern's leadership, New Zealand became the first country to declare itself COVID-19 free. 

READ: New Zealand PM Votes A Week Before Polls Close In Election

COVID-19 restrictions lifted

On October 5, New Zealand lifted the strict COVID-19 restrictions in Auckland announcing that the city will be moving to alert level 1 from October 8. While lifting the restrictions, Ardern said that the second wave of infections had been eliminated in Auckland. 

In a press conference earlier, the New Zealand PM had said that throughout the pandemic, the country has maintained a very low death rate and also has one of the lowest death rates in the world.  The COVID-19 pandemic which saw its first outbreak in a wet market in Wuhan, China last year has now gripped the world. As per the John Hopkins University, New Zealand has confirmed 1,514 cases of COVID-19 and just 25 deaths in a population of five million.

READ: COVID-19: New Zealand PM Lifts Lockdown In Auckland, Says 'we Beat The Virus Again'

READ: New Zealand General Elections 2020: Advance Voting Starts, Election Day On Oct 17

Inputs/Image: AP