NZ election 2026: key dates
The 2026 general election is on Saturday 7 November 2026. Voting places are open 9am to 7pm, and results start coming in from 7pm.
| Wednesday 21 October | Overseas voting begins |
| Sunday 25 October, midnight | Enrolment closes. Under the 2025 law change you can no longer enrol during the voting period or on election day. |
| Monday 26 October | Advance voting begins |
| Saturday 7 November | Election day. Voting places open 9am–7pm. Preliminary results from 7pm: follow them live on The Count, seat by seat on the electorate pages. |
| Friday 27 November | Official results, including special votes |
| Thursday 3 December | Return of the writ: the formal end of the election |
Dates as published by the Electoral Commission and reported by 1News. Check vote.nz for where and how to vote.
On election night
From 7pm The Count shows the preliminary count as it comes in: seats for every party under MMP, the closest electorates, and a call for each seat once its lead is safe. Special votes (about one in five in 2023) are counted afterwards and can change close seats and the last few list seats, so nothing is final until 27 November. How seats are called.