ISSUE
Friday, August 15, 2025
Volume 16 . Issue 72
It seems like the controversies around the new flag just refuse to die down. A ‘new’ mistake has now been identified in the Hindi ballot paper, which might jeopardise nearly 80,000 Indian votes.
The mistake, which is now being alleged as a deliberate attempt to misguide the voters, was first spotted by New Zealand first MP Mahesh Bindra. Even though at the first cursory glance, the translation in Hindi on the flag voting paper looks fine, when looked closely, one can’t fail to notice the presence of word ‘new’, which is absent in the English version of the document.
So how much difference does the word, ‘new’ make?
“It does make a huge difference. Voters get a different impression from the language. The English version asks the voters to vote for the flag they want to be the flag of New Zealand but in the Hindi version, the voters are asked to select the flag, which voters want to be the ‘new’ New Zealand flag”, argues Mahesh Bindra.
Bindra’s argument holds good when one tries to understand the effect the word ‘new’ might have on the voters with one of the options being the current flag of New Zealand. Interestingly, the Punjabi version of the ballot paper does not carry the word ‘new’.
The question that arises now is whether this mistake was intentional to influence the result in favour of flag change. New Zealand First is, in fact, asking for nullifying all the votes from Hindi-speaking voters.
NZ First leader, Winston Peters said, “It can’t be a mistake. The fact of the matter is that this is a deliberate manipulation. Even though the Hindi voters are totally innocent, we can't surely count this vote now.”
The users of the Hindi ballot paper need to realise what they are actually voting for. As it says in the English version, the vote to be made is for New Zealand’s flag and not the new flag.
It seems like the controversies around the new flag just refuse to die down. A ‘new’ mistake has now been identified in the Hindi ballot paper, which might jeopardise nearly 80,000 Indian votes.
The mistake, which is now being alleged as a deliberate attempt to misguide the voters, was first...
It seems like the controversies around the new flag just refuse to die down. A ‘new’ mistake has now been identified in the Hindi ballot paper, which might jeopardise nearly 80,000 Indian votes.
The mistake, which is now being alleged as a deliberate attempt to misguide the voters, was first spotted by New Zealand first MP Mahesh Bindra. Even though at the first cursory glance, the translation in Hindi on the flag voting paper looks fine, when looked closely, one can’t fail to notice the presence of word ‘new’, which is absent in the English version of the document.
So how much difference does the word, ‘new’ make?
“It does make a huge difference. Voters get a different impression from the language. The English version asks the voters to vote for the flag they want to be the flag of New Zealand but in the Hindi version, the voters are asked to select the flag, which voters want to be the ‘new’ New Zealand flag”, argues Mahesh Bindra.
Bindra’s argument holds good when one tries to understand the effect the word ‘new’ might have on the voters with one of the options being the current flag of New Zealand. Interestingly, the Punjabi version of the ballot paper does not carry the word ‘new’.
The question that arises now is whether this mistake was intentional to influence the result in favour of flag change. New Zealand First is, in fact, asking for nullifying all the votes from Hindi-speaking voters.
NZ First leader, Winston Peters said, “It can’t be a mistake. The fact of the matter is that this is a deliberate manipulation. Even though the Hindi voters are totally innocent, we can't surely count this vote now.”
The users of the Hindi ballot paper need to realise what they are actually voting for. As it says in the English version, the vote to be made is for New Zealand’s flag and not the new flag.
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