Gold-miners and The Vote
In 1860, 15 additional electorates were created. An electoral redistribution in 1862 took account of the influx of people to Otago because of the Central Otago gold-rush, which began in 1861. In 1862 the franchise was extended to males aged 21 years and over who had held a miner’s right continuously for at least three (or six) months. This aimed to enfranchise miners even if they did not own or lease land, as they were nevertheless ranked as "important" economically and socially.
A special multi-member electorate was created in Otago, the Goldfields electorate 1863–70, and then the single-member Goldfields Towns electorate 1866–70. To vote, a miner just presented his miner’s licence to the election official, as there were no electoral rolls for these electorates. Outside Otago, where no special goldfields electorate(s) existed, miners could register as electors in the ordinary electoral district where they lived.
Read more about this topic: History Of Voting In New Zealand
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“While I believe that with a fair election in the South, our electoral vote would reach two hundred, and that we should have a large popular majority, I am yet anxious, as you are, that in the canvassing of results there should be no taint of dishonesty.”
—Rutherford Birchard Hayes (1822–1893)