The 2026 New Zealand general election is scheduled to be held on 7 November 2026. Voters will elect 120 members to the House of Representatives under New Zealand's mixed-member proportional (MMP) voting system, comprising 71 members elected from single-member electorates and 49 members elected from closed party lists to achieve proportionality.
After the previous election, the centre-right National Party, led by prime minister Christopher Luxon, formed a coalition government with the ACT and New Zealand First parties. The official Opposition to the government is the centre-left Labour Party, led by former prime minister Chris Hipkins. Other opposition parties are the left-wing Green Party and the indigenous rights-based Te Pāti Māori.
Electoral system
New Zealand uses the mixed-member proportional (MMP) voting system to elect the House of Representatives. Each voter gets two votes, one for a political party (the party vote) and one for a local candidate (the electorate vote). Political parties which meet the threshold (5% of the party vote or one electorate seat) receive seats in the House in proportion to the percentage of the party vote they receive. At this election, 71 of the 120 seats will be filled by the MPs elected from the electorates, with the winner in each electorate determined by the first past the post method (i.e. most votes wins). The remaining 49 seats will be filled by candidates from each party's closed party list. If a party wins more electorates than seats it is entitled to under the party vote, an overhang results; in this case, the House will add extra seats to cover the overhang.
The political party or party bloc with the majority of the seats in the House forms the Government. Since the introduction of MMP in 1996, only once has a party won an outright majority of seats, when the Labour Party won 65 out of 120 seats in 2020. Usually, parties negotiate with each other to form a coalition government or a minority government.
Electorate boundaries Electorate boundaries in New Zealand are redrawn after every census. The number of South Island general electorates is fixed at 16,Electoral Act 1993, section 35(3)(a). with the number of North Island general electorates and Māori electorates increasing or decreasing in proportion. For the 2020 and 2023 elections, there were 49 North Island general electorates and seven Māori electorates, leaving 48 seats to be elected from party lists.
On 25 October 2024, Statistics New Zealand announced that, following the 2023 census, the number of North Island general electorates would decrease from 49 to 48, with the number of list seats increasing from 48 to 49. Nearly half of North Island electorates were outside the permitted ±5% population tolerance, necessitating extensive boundary changes across Auckland, Wellington, and the Bay of Plenty. The Representation Commission released draft boundaries for public consultation on 25 March 2025, and finalised boundaries on 8 August 2025.
In western Auckland, New Lynn, Kelston and Te Atatū were reconfigured into Waitākere, and . In southern Auckland, the electorate of Panmure-Ōtāhuhu became Ōtāhuhu after losing the Panmure area. In Bay of Plenty, Tauranga and Bay of Plenty were substantially reconfigured, with Bay of Plenty renamed . On the East Coast, East Coast was renamed East Cape. In the lower North Island, Ōtaki, Mana and Ōhāriu were reconfigured into the and Kapiti electorates. In Wellington, Wellington Central and Rongotai were renamed and respectively following substantial boundary changes.
Changes to electoral system On 16 December 2025, the New Zealand Parliament passed the Electoral Amendment Act 2025, which amended the Electoral Act 1993 ahead of the 2026 general election. The new law limits voter enrolment to 13 days before polling day, banned prisoners from voting, raised the threshold for voluntary donations from NZ$5,000 to NZ$6,000 and banned the distribution of food and most drinks near polling booths. The law change was supported by the governing National, ACT and New Zealand First parties but was opposed by the opposition Labour, Green parties, and Te Pāti Māori, who described it as amounting to voter suppression and discriminatory against younger and ethnic minority voters.
On 15 July 2026, the Electoral Commission announced that it would default to sending electoral information (including the EasyVote cards and information about candidates) to voters via email instead of mail. From 2026, voters will only receive their information in the post if the Electoral Commission does not have their email addresses on their file. Chief Electoral Officer Karl Le Quesne attributed the switch from post to email to the shrinkage of New Zealand Post's services. Te Hapori Matihiko founder and chief executive Katie Brown expressed concerns that this digital switch could create barriers for many people.
Voter enrolment In early July 2026, the Electoral Commission confirmed that more than half of ethnic Māori voters (302,096) were on the Māori roll while 255,627 were registered on the general roll. Enrolled Māori voters were able to switch between the general and Māori electoral rolls up to 6 August 2026. By mid-August, Radio New Zealand reported that overseas enrolments across the Māori electorates had increased by 67% since the previous general election. Queensland-based enrolment advocates Rachael Marie Johnstone and Nicole Orzecki attributed this surge to political upheaval in New Zealand boosting voter enrolment among Māori Australians.
In early August 2026, Radio New Zealand reported that youth voter enrolment has plummeted to 53% by 30 June 2026. This was the lowest figure in a 15-year decline in voter enrolment between 2011 and 2026. On 30 June 2011, 70% of young people between the ages of 18 and 24 years had enrolled to vote. By 2023, this figure had declined to 60% of young people. Auckland University of Technology political scientist Julianne Molineaux said that compulsory civics education in schools and lowering the voting age to 16 years would help combat the decline in youth voter engagement. Electoral Commission strategic engagement and partnerships director Shane Whitfield said that the Commission would seek to mobilise eligible youth voters via social media, radio and television broadcasting campaigns, sports clubs, schools, universities, polytechnics and malls.
On 10 August, Chief Electoral Officer Karl Le Quesne acknowledged that 115,000 people were currently listed on the dormant roll, about 25% lower than the same time during the leadup to the 2023 New Zealand general election. Voters are placed on the dormant roll if the Electoral Commission is unable to contact them. While dormant voters are able to cast a vote, their votes will be counted as special votes and they would not be sent EasyVote cards.
Election date and schedule Unless an early election is called or the election date is set to circumvent holding a by-election, a general election is held every three years. The last election was held on Saturday, 14 October 2023.
The governor-general must issue writs for an election within seven days of the expiration or dissolution of the current Parliament. Under section 17 of the Constitution Act 1986, Parliament expires three years "from the day fixed for the return of the writs issued for the last preceding general election of members of the House of Representatives, and no longer." The writs for the 2023 election were returned on 9 November 2023. As a result, the 54th Parliament would expire, if not dissolved earlier, on Monday, 9 November 2026. Consequently, the last day for issuance of writs of election would be 16 November 2026. The writs must be returned within 60 days of their issuance (save for any judicial recount or death of a candidate), which would be Friday, 15 January 2027. Because polling day must be a Saturday, and two weeks is generally required for the counting of special votes, the last possible date that this election could be held is Saturday, 19 December 2026.
On 21 January 2026, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announced that the election will be held on 7 November 2026. The schedule for the election under legislation is as follows:
21 January 2026 (Wednesday)Prime Minister Christopher Luxon announces the general election will be held on 7 November.6 August 2026 (Thursday)Last day for registration of parties and party logos; last day to change roll type (general or Māori) for Māori voters.7 August 2026 (Friday)The regulated election advertising period begins.7 September 2026 (Monday)Candidate nominations open.1 October 2026 (Thursday)The 54th Parliament is dissolved.4 October 2026 (Sunday)Writ day – Governor-General issues formal direction to the Electoral Commission to hold the election. Last day to ordinarily enrol to vote (late enrolments must cast special votes). Official campaigning begins; radio and television advertising begins.8 October 2026 (Thursday)Nominations for candidates close at 12:00 noon.21 October 2026 (Wednesday)Overseas voting begins.25 October 2026 (Sunday)Last day to enrol to vote.26 October 2026 (Monday)Advance voting begins.6 November 2026 (Friday)Advance and overseas voting ends. The regulated election advertising period ends; all election advertising must be taken down by midnight.7 November 2026 (Saturday)Election day – polling places open 9:00 am to 7:00 pm. Preliminary election results released progressively after 7:00 pm.27 November 2026 (Friday)Official election results declared.3 December 2026 (Thursday)Writ for election returned; official declaration of elected members (subject to judicial recounts).
Parties Since the 2023 election, seven parties have been deregistered: DemocracyNZ on 15 February 2024, Leighton Baker Party on 27 May 2024, New Zealand Loyal on 26 July 2024, Democratic Alliance on 27 November 2024, New Nation Party on 29 January 2025, Freedoms New Zealand on 1 May 2025, and NewZeal on 31 March 2026.
PartyLeader(s)FoundedIdeology2023 election resultCurrent seatsStatus % party vote seats 1936 Conservatism 38.08% Chris Hipkins 1916 Social democracy 26.92% Chlöe Swarbrick 1990 Green politicsSocial democracy 11.61% 1994 Classical liberalismRight-libertarianismConservatism 8.64% 1993 NationalismSocial conservatismRight-wing populism 6.09% Rawiri Waititi 2004 Māori rightsTino rangatiratanga 3.08% 2016 Radical centrism 2.22% 2023 Conspiracism 1.21% Michael Appleby 1996 Cannabis legalisation 0.45% 2015 EnvironmentalismConspiracismSocial conservatism 0.34% 2019 Christian nationalism Robert McNeilDannette Wereta 2023 Animal rights 0.17% 2011 ConservatismTraditionalism 0.15% Jill Ovens Dawn Trenberth 2023 Gender critical ideology 0.08% 1991 Democratic socialism 2026 Anti-Zionism 2026 Tino rangatiratanga
Candidates
MPs not standing for re-election Damien O'Connor announced on 26 January 2026 that he would not stand in the West Coast-Tasman electorate again, and subsequently transitioned to standing in the Waitaki electorate. Andrew Bayly similarly announced on 3 March 2026 that he would not stand in the electorate again, and was exploring whether to stand on the party list. He subsequently announced on 20 June he would not be seeking a place on the National list and would leave parliament at the election.
Greg O'Connor announced he would seek a list-only position after boundary changes disestablished his electorate of Ōhāriu. On 8 June 2026, it was revealed he decided to not put his name forward for the Labour list. Following an unsuccessful leadership challenge against Prime Minister Christopher Luxon which led to the loss of his ministerial portfolios on 12 August, Chris Penk announced he would not seek re-election.