How votes are counted in New Zealand, from ballot box to result

New Zealand doesn't use voting machines or electronic counting. Every ballot paper is counted by hand, by election staff, while scrutineers from the parties watch. It's slower than a machine, but it's simple, hard to tamper with and easy to check. The process is also very fast for a hand count, with most votes counted within a few hours of polls closing.

Here's what happens to your ballot paper after you put it in the box.

Step by step: from your vote to the live result

1. You vote. You mark your party vote and electorate vote, fold the paper and drop it in a sealed ballot box. Your name is crossed off a printed roll. Your vote stays secret.
2. Voting closes. At 7pm the doors close. Anyone already queuing can still vote.
3. Boxes are opened. Staff open the ballot boxes in front of scrutineers, people appointed by candidates and parties to watch the count.
4. Papers are sorted. Ballot papers are sorted into piles by the party ticked for the party vote, then by the candidate ticked for the electorate vote.
5. Counted and checked. Each pile is counted, then counted again. Totals must match the number of papers issued.
6. Informal votes set aside. Papers that are blank, marked for more than one option, or where the voter's intention isn't clear are counted as informal for that vote. A paper can be informal for one vote and valid for the other.
7. Results are sent in. The voting place manager sends the totals to the returning officer for the electorate, who enters them into the Electoral Commission's results system.
8. Results go live. The Commission publishes them online. News sites, broadcasters and this site pick them up from there.

Why advance votes come first

Advance votes are collected over two weeks before election day and stored securely. On election day they can be counted in closed rooms, by staff who can't leave or communicate until voting has closed. That means they're ready to report soon after 7pm and are usually the first results published. Read advance vote results explained.

Who watches the count?

• Scrutineers. Candidates and parties can appoint scrutineers to watch the count at each voting place. They can raise objections but can't touch ballot papers.
• Returning officers. Each electorate has a returning officer who is responsible for the count there.
• The Electoral Commission. An independent Crown entity that runs the election and publishes results.

Did you know? Votes are counted in each voting place, so on election night there are thousands of separate counts happening at once across the country.

What makes a vote informal?

A vote is informal if the voting staff can't tell what you meant. Common reasons:

• Ticking more than one party for the party vote, or more than one candidate for the electorate vote.
• Leaving that vote blank.
• Writing something that makes your choice unclear.

If you make a mistake, ask for a new ballot paper before you put it in the box. Staff will cancel the spoiled one. Our how to vote guide covers this.

The official count

The election night result is preliminary. Over the next three weeks:

• Every voting place's ballot papers are recounted and checked against the night's figures.
• Special votes are checked one by one and counted. The Electoral Commission expects about 700,000 in 2026.
• The master roll is checked to make sure nobody voted twice.
• The official result is declared on 27 November 2026, and the writ is returned on 3 December.

How long the count takes, by the numbers

Questions and answers

Sources

• Electoral Commission: counting process, results targets and official count.
• Official results site: where results are published.
• 2023 preliminary results release.

This guide is general information about New Zealand elections, checked against the sources linked above on 3 November 2026. For anything about your own enrolment or vote, check vote.nz or call the Electoral Commission on 0800 36 76 56.