Harry Mowbray's split-vote campaign ahead of the 7 November election

Businessman Harry Mowbray's Split Your Vote campaign encouraged voters to split their votes between National and ACT ahead of the 2026 election, 1News reported on 30 October.

Under New Zealand's mixed-member proportional (MMP) system, each voter gets two votes. The electorate vote goes to a candidate in the voter's local seat. The party vote goes to a political party. A split vote means choosing different parties for each. Mowbray's campaign asked voters to give their electorate vote to National and their party vote to ACT.

The election is on 7 November 2026. Reuters reported on 29 October that polls continued to show no clear winner or coalition grouping.

The most recent poll cited in that coverage was a 1News-Verian poll published on 20 October. It put the National Party on 32% and Labour on 27%. Support for National had been lower earlier in the campaign. A poll reported on 5 October found National on 25.9%, its weakest level since 2020, according to Reuters.

Voters can cast their party vote and electorate vote separately, so a split vote is legal and counted under the same rules as any other vote.