The Electoral Commission has officially confirmed one of our favourite parts of voting will be missing this year.
For several years, the iconic stickers of the Orange Guy and his dog have been our election mascots - plastered onto the hands of Kiwi voters.
Massey University marketing expert Bodo Lang spoke with The Project's hosts, Jessie Mulligan, Kanoa Lloyd, and Jeremy Corbett about the shocking announcement many Kiwis are finding hard to take in.
"Well I'm a sticker man myself I must say, because I do think they work, and I do think that they serve a function and it's a bit of fun you know," Prof Lang explained.
He said that without them, elections can be "dreary", "dry", and "irrational".
"There is this theory called reactance theory and it basically means that whenever we limit someone's choices, the freedoms or the opportunities that they're used to - so if you withdraw one of those alternatives that they would've chosen - so the sticker in this case, that they will react negatively against this," he went on to explain.
He said despite not all voters having interest in the stickers, at least 25 percent do.
"It would've been nice to keep those people engaged and happy and I'm certain that they have a positive impact on voter turnout," he said.
"Sometimes it just slips through the cracks, you might've been thinking about the election and you'd already prepared to vote, and then on the day something happens.
"Maybe a child gets sick or you have an accident, and then if you see something on your social media that says people have voted it gets more people across the line."
He said, despite the stickets being little, it's "one sign of unity".
When asked if he thought there could be better incentives aimed at young people, he said he "isn't sure how far he'd go down that track".
"At some point you have to say, well actually, this is just what you have to do, and if you choose not to participate then maybe that's what it is," he said, shrugging.
"They should be really doing it for the right reason, and the reason is to make New Zealand work."
