Election 2026: Busy polling places and remote voting sites

Voters at The Palms Shopping Centre in Christchurch East waited up to 12 minutes to cast their votes, according to polling place manager Jake Preston. RNZ reports that The Palms is one of the busiest voting places in New Zealand. Preston said the quietest times there were between 10am and 10.30am, and between 5pm and 6pm.

Election officials also staffed a polling place in Milford Sound for one day, on 31 October. Voting there ran from midday until 7pm. The team left for Milford Sound at about 9am and did not return until about 9.30pm.

Te Anau manager Robert Manning said Milford Sound has 122 people permanently on site. He said Te Anau would have seven polling places on election day.

Election day is Saturday 7 November. Elections NZ says more than 2,300 voting places will be open from 9am to 7pm across the country.

Voting started on 26 October. Nearly 1 million ballots had been cast in the first week of early voting as of 2 November, Reuters reported. Enrolment for the election has now closed.

The final 1News Verian poll put the National Party on 30%, narrowly ahead of Labour. Reuters has reported that cost of living, housing, jobs and public services dominated the campaign.

Preliminary results will be released progressively from 7pm on election night, according to Elections NZ.