Latest: With 96.7 percent of results counted, National is on 29.29 percent of the party vote (699,126 votes) and a projected 42 seats, from 42 electorate wins, ahead of Labour on 29.23 percent (697,674 votes) and 35 seats, from 21 electorate wins and 14 list seats, a margin of 1,452 party votes. Behind them, the Greens are on 13.29 percent (16 seats), ACT on 10.97 percent (13), New Zealand First on 9.79 percent (12) and the Opportunity Party on 5.97 percent (7), while Te Pāti Māori’s five electorate wins against 0.56 percent of the party vote put the projected parliament at 130 seats.
National plus ACT hold 55 seats and Labour, the Greens and Te Pāti Māori hold 56, against the 66 needed to govern, so New Zealand First’s 12 seats still take either bloc past the line, to 67 or 68.
Earlier: With 90.5 percent of results counted, National was on 29.34 percent of the party vote (676,165 votes) and a projected 41 seats, all of them electorate wins, ahead of Labour on 29.13 percent (671,479 votes) and 35 seats, from 21 electorate wins and 14 list seats. Behind them, the Greens were on 13.32 percent (16 seats), ACT on 11.01 percent (13), New Zealand First on 9.81 percent (12) and the Opportunity Party on 5.94 percent (7), while Te Pāti Māori’s five electorate wins against 0.56 percent of the party vote kept the projected parliament at 129 seats.
National plus ACT held 54 seats and Labour, the Greens and Te Pāti Māori held 56, against the 65 needed to govern, so New Zealand First’s 12 seats still took either bloc past the line, to 66 or 68.
Earlier: With 83.0 percent of results counted, National was on 29.38 percent of the party vote (643,464 votes) and a projected 41 seats, ahead of Labour on 29.06 percent (636,577 votes) and 35 seats. Behind them, the Greens were on 13.38 percent (16 seats), ACT on 11.04 percent (13), New Zealand First on 9.81 percent (12) and the Opportunity Party on 5.89 percent (7), while Te Pāti Māori’s five electorate wins against 0.56 percent of the party vote kept the projected parliament at 129 seats.
Earlier: With 69.0 percent of results counted, the lead has flipped back: the governing National Party is on 29.44 percent of the party vote (582,133 votes) and a projected 41 seats, ahead of Labour on 29.08 percent (575,064 votes) and 35 seats, National’s seat tally reflecting its 41 electorate wins to Labour’s 21. Behind them, the Greens are on 13.55 percent (16 seats), ACT on 11.00 percent (13), New Zealand First on 9.73 percent (12) and the Opportunity Party on 5.79 percent (7), while Te Pāti Māori’s five electorate wins against 0.56 percent of the party vote put the projected parliament at 129 seats.
On those numbers neither bloc can govern alone: Labour, the Greens and Te Pāti Māori hold 56 seats and National plus ACT hold 54, against the 65 needed in a 129-seat parliament. New Zealand First’s projected 12 seats would take either bloc past the line, to 68 or 66, so Winston Peters’ party is now pivotal in both directions, a change from the early count when it could carry only the Labour-side bloc past the line. The Commission aims to have preliminary results from 95 percent of polling stations by the end of the night, with the official result, including ballots cast abroad, expected by November 27.
Earlier, with 29.2 percent of results counted, Labour was on 29.97 percent of the party vote (424,703 votes) and a projected 36 seats, ahead of the governing National Party on 29.38 percent (416,356 votes) and 41 seats. Behind them, the Greens were on 14.00 percent (17 seats), ACT on 10.49 percent (13), New Zealand First on 9.40 percent (11) and the Opportunity Party on 5.39 percent (7), while Te Pāti Māori’s five electorate wins against 0.58 percent of the party vote lifted the projected parliament to 130 seats.
At that stage neither bloc could govern alone: Labour, the Greens and Te Pāti Māori held 58 seats and National plus ACT held 54, against the 66 needed in a 130-seat parliament. New Zealand First’s projected 11 seats would have taken the Labour-side bloc to 69 but the National side only to 65, one short, so the arithmetic then favoured a Labour-led combination.
Earlier: Polls closed at 7pm New Zealand time and the Electoral Commission’s preliminary count, with 16.3 percent of results in, put the governing National Party on 30.55 percent of the party vote (301,164 votes) and a projected 43 seats, ahead of Labour on 28.93 percent (285,115 votes) and 35 seats. Behind them, the Greens were on 12.99 percent (16 seats), ACT on 11.11 percent (13), New Zealand First on 9.82 percent (12) and the Opportunity Party on 5.39 percent (6), while Te Pāti Māori’s five electorate wins against 0.44 percent of the party vote lifted the projected parliament to 130 seats.
Polling stations opened at 9am on Saturday across New Zealand and close at 7pm, closing a voting period that began on October 26. More than 1.6 million voters, out of nearly 3.8 million in total, had cast ballots by the end of Thursday, according to the Electoral Commission, with cost of living and the state of the economy the backdrop to the final day.
Opinion polls ahead of the vote put the governing centre-right National Party and the opposition centre-left Labour Party neck and neck, with neither on course to win enough seats to govern alone under the mixed-member proportional system.