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Mana Pōti New Zealand
How to vote

✶ How to vote · General election 2026

Two ticks,
one paper.

Every voter gets one paper with two votes on it: a party vote, which decides how many seats each party gets, and an electorate vote, which decides your local MP. Try it below with your electorate's real candidates.

Party voteTick one party

This vote decides the share of seats each party gets in Parliament.

    Electorate voteTick one candidate

    This vote decides the MP for .

      Practice only — nothing is sent anywhere. Parties are in alphabetical order and candidates by surname here; check your real paper. Candidates and parties from the Electoral Commission's 2026 feed.

      Step by step

      From roll
      to ballot box.

      1. 1

        Can I vote?

        18 or older, a New Zealand citizen or permanent resident, and you have lived in New Zealand for a year without a break at some point. From 2026 nobody detained in prison may vote (Electoral Amendment Act 2025).

      2. 2

        Enrol

        Online at vote.nz with your driver licence, passport or RealMe, or on a paper form. For 2026 enrolment closed 13 days before polling day (Sunday 25 October); there is no election-day enrolment any more. You can pre-enrol from 17.

      3. 3

        Choose your roll

        If you are of Māori descent you choose the general roll or the Māori roll, and so whether you vote in a general or a Māori electorate. The choice for 2026 closed on 6 August.

      4. 4

        Get your EasyVote

        From 2026 the Commission sends your EasyVote information by email where it has your address, by post otherwise. Take it with you to speed things up — you don't need it to vote.

      5. 5

        Vote early or on the day

        Advance voting ran for 12 days (26 October – 6 November). On polling day, Saturday 7 November, voting places are open 9am–7pm; you can vote at any of them in New Zealand.

      6. 6

        Tick twice

        One tick for a party, one tick for a candidate. Fold the paper and put it in the ballot box.

      Special votes

      Counted
      later.

      Special votes are checked against the rolls before they are counted, so they are not in the election-night figures. In 2023 they were 20.9% of all votes, which is why seat counts on election night are provisional.

      • Away from home. You can vote at any voting place in New Zealand; staff will tell you if your vote has to be taken as a special vote.
      • Dormant or late enrolment. If you are on the dormant roll, or not on the printed roll, you cast a special vote: it is checked against the master roll before it counts.
      • Overseas. From 21 October voters abroad could download and upload, or post, their papers. Over 132,000 overseas New Zealanders had enrolled by 25 October.
      • Can't get to a voting place. Takeaway voting, telephone dictation for blind or disabled voters, and voting in hospitals and rest homes.

      On polling day

      • No campaigning anywhere until 7pm: no ads, no hoardings, no badges or rosettes in party colours near voting places.
      • No food or drink handed out near voting places — new in the Electoral Amendment Act 2025.
      • No polls here while voting places are open: this site hides poll figures from 9am to 7pm on polling day. Whether the Electoral Act's election-day rules cover publishing polls is not something we have confirmed.
      • Results start soon after 7pm. Follow them live →
      • 3,633,546electors on the rolls
      • 92.4%of eligible people enrolled by 24 Oct (94.7% in 2023)
      • 1,074,416advance votes by 3 November

      Roll size from the Commission's feed. Enrolment share and advance-vote figures as reported via Wikipedia; election-day rules summarised from the Commission's guidance; the primary text of the Electoral Act was not re-read for this page.