Nearly a million New Zealanders have already voted as early turnout jumps 28 per cent ahead of Saturday’s election
A total of 913,762 votes were cast in the first week of early voting for New Zealand’s general election, a 28 per cent jump on the same period in 2023, the country’s Electoral Commission said on Monday.
Nearly one million New Zealanders have already cast their ballots ahead of Saturday’s general election, with early voting running well ahead of the pace set three years ago. A total of 913,762 votes were cast between 26 October and 1 November, the first week of early voting, according to New Zealand’s Electoral Commission, a figure reported by Reuters on Monday.
The count represents a 28 per cent jump compared with the same period during the 2023 election, a striking rise in a country where advance voting has grown steadily but rarely at this speed. Saturday was the busiest single day of the week, with more than 190,000 votes issued, suggesting that many voters chose to settle their decision early rather than wait for election day itself.
Chief Electoral Officer Karl Le Quesne welcomed the turnout, saying voting had “got off to a good start” and noting that there were still six more days to vote. Around 600 voting places are open daily during this final week, with that number rising to more than 2,300 on election day, Saturday 7 November, when the remaining voters will be able to cast their ballots in person.
The surge has come despite a change to the rules that has drawn criticism from some quarters. The government ended enrolment 13 days before the election, a move critics argued could deter participation, particularly among younger voters and people who move house frequently. That the early turnout has risen sharply in spite of the earlier cut-off is one reason election officials and commentators have taken notice of the first-week figures.
What the early numbers do not reveal, however, is who is winning. The Electoral Commission publishes how many votes have been cast, not how they were cast, and the latest polls still show no clear winner or coalition grouping in what is described as a tightly contested election. Early voting totals are therefore a measure of enthusiasm and organisation, not a preview of the result.
New Zealand’s elections are fought under a proportional system in which voters cast two votes, one for a local candidate and one for a party, and governments are usually formed by coalitions when no single party wins an outright majority. That makes the final days of campaigning especially important: small shifts in party support can decide not only which party finishes first, but which combination of parties is able to govern.
The timing of the early-voting window also matters. Advance voting opened on 26 October, giving voters a full two weeks before election day to vote at a time and place that suits them, including in the larger cities where queues on election day itself can be long. Officials have long encouraged advance voting as a way of spreading the load, and the 2026 figures suggest voters have taken that message to heart.
For the parties, a high early turnout cuts both ways. It means a large share of the electorate has already made up its mind, leaving fewer undecided voters for the final week’s campaigning to persuade. At the same time, it raises the stakes of getting supporters to the polls early, since a vote banked in the first week cannot be lost to bad weather, illness or a late change of heart on election day.
Attention now turns to the remaining days of advance voting and to Saturday itself. Election officials will be watching whether the pace holds through the week or whether the first-week surge was driven mainly by the most motivated voters turning out at the earliest opportunity. Either way, the final turnout figure will be compared closely with 2023, when early voting already accounted for a large share of all ballots cast.
The result, when it comes, will shape New Zealand’s government for the next three years. Until the votes are counted on Saturday night, however, the only certainty is the scale of participation so far: almost a million ballots already in the box, six days still to go, and a race that, on the polling evidence, remains too close to call.
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