Turnout for 2026 election on track to be second lowest in New Zealand history

Turnout in the 2026 New Zealand general election is on track to be the second lowest in the country's history, according to RNZ.

The Electoral Commission, the body that runs elections, said 74.6 percent of those enrolled had cast a vote. That figure was an estimate as at 1pm on Saturday 7 November, the day of the election, according to the Electoral Commission. Turnout at the 2023 general election was 78.2 percent.

About 2.8 million votes were cast in 2026, compared with more than 3.6 million at the last election, RNZ reported. The preliminary count was based on 2,432,403 ordinary votes counted on election night, including informal votes. About 400,000 special votes, including 96,000 from overseas, were still to be counted. Special votes are counted separately from ordinary votes.

On seat numbers, the BBC's preliminary projections placed the National Party on 42 seats, the Labour Party on 36, the Green Party on 16, ACT on 13 and New Zealand First on 12. The Electoral Commission's preliminary results gave National 706,680 votes, or 29.21 percent, and Labour 710,330 votes, or 29.36 percent. The Greens received 321,902 votes, or 13.30 percent.

The official results process was expected to take 20 days, with the final release set for Friday 27 November.