✶ Calendar · General election 2026
Saturday,
7 November.
New Zealand has no fixed election date. The Prime Minister picks it, within the three-year limit on a Parliament's life; Christopher Luxon announced 7 November on 21 January 2026. The 54th Parliament was dissolved on 1 October 2026.
Timetable
- 21 Jan
Date announced
The Prime Minister announces polling day — about nine months ahead. The date is his choice, within the three-year limit.
- 6 Aug
Party registration closes
Last day to register a party or logo, and for Māori electors to switch between the general and Māori rolls.
- 7 Aug – 6 Nov now
Regulated period
Election advertising is regulated and counts against spending limits.
- 1 Oct
Parliament dissolved
The 54th Parliament ends; ministers stay in office until a new government is sworn in.
- 4 Oct
Writ day
The Governor-General directs the Electoral Commission to hold the election. Broadcast campaigning begins.
- 8 Oct
Nominations close
Noon. Party lists and electorate candidates are final: 530 candidates for 71 electorates.
- 21 Oct
Overseas voting opens
Voters abroad can download, upload or post their voting papers.
- 25 Oct
Enrolment closes
New from 2026: you must be enrolled 13 days before polling day. There is no election-day enrolment.
- 26 Oct – 6 Nov now
Advance voting
Twelve days of early voting at advance voting places.
- 7 Nov
Polling day
9am–7pm. Preliminary results from 7pm; the Commission aims for half of voting places by 10pm and 95% by 11.30pm.
- 27 Nov
Official results
After special votes are checked and counted and every vote is recounted from the master roll.
- 3 Dec
Writ returned
Successful candidates are declared elected (subject to any judicial recount).
Dates from the statutory timetable as tabulated on Wikipedia; results timing from the Commission's 2026 media kit.
How the count works
Preliminary,
then official.
-
Election night
Advance votes are counted from 9am behind closed doors; election-day votes after 7pm. Results are published progressively as voting places report. Special votes are set aside.
-
The following days
Voting papers and rolls go back to each electorate's returning officer. A master roll is compiled to catch anyone who voted twice.
-
Special votes
Each special vote is checked against the rolls before it is counted — up to ten days for overseas papers to arrive.
-
Official count
All votes are counted again and the official result declared — set for Friday 27 November 2026.
-
Recounts and the writ
Candidates can ask a District Court judge for a recount. The writ is returned by 3 December and the new Parliament must meet within six weeks of that.
The final polls
Too close
to call.
Each pollster's last published poll. Polls are not forecasts, sample a thousand people or so (about ±3 points), and cannot see electorate races. Prediction-market prices, below, are traders' bets, not polls; the Department of Internal Affairs treats offering such markets in New Zealand as illegal gambling, and we take no bets.
| Pollster | Fieldwork | National | Labour | Green | ACT | NZ First | Opportunity | Te Pāti Māori |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Taxpayers' Union–Curia | 28 Oct – 3 Nov | 28.9 | 28.4 | 14.4 | 10.5 | 9.8 | 5.8 | 1.1 |
| 1News–Verian | 29 Oct – 2 Nov | 29.5 | 28.8 | 16.4 | 10.0 | 8.4 | 6.2 | 0.4 |
| RNZ–Reid Research | 20–26 Oct | 24.8 | 30.6 | 14.5 | 10.1 | 9.9 | 7.2 | 1.9 |
| The Post–Freshwater Strategy | 9–19 Oct | 27.6 | 28.7 | 14.3 | 9.0 | 11.8 | 5.4 | 2.0 |
| Simple average | 4 polls | 27.7 | 29.1 | 14.9 | 9.9 | 10.0 | 6.2 | 1.4 |
Party-vote %, as listed in Wikipedia's polling table, which links each publisher; not re-read from every publisher. Try these shares in the MMP calculator or coalition builder.
After 2026
What
comes next.
- 7 November 2026
New Zealand general election
All 120 seats in the House of Representatives (plus any overhang) under MMP: 71 electorates, 7 of them Māori, and 49 list seats. Polls close at 7pm NZDT; official results on 27 November.
- 27 November 2026
New Zealand official results
The Electoral Commission declares the official result after counting special votes; seat numbers can change from election night.
- Expected October 2028
New Zealand local elections
Postal elections for 78 councils, plus licensing trusts and community boards.
- By late 2029
The next general election
Parliament's term is three years. A bill to allow four-year terms passed its first reading in 2025 but was not advanced in February 2026, so no term referendum is held with this election.