4.1 Preliminary results – election night

After the polling place closes at 7pm on polling day and all voters have left, the manager of every polling place carries out the preliminary count of votes in the presence of scrutineers and polling place officials.

The ballot boxes are opened and the ballot papers, party votes and electorate votes are counted. Special votes are not opened and must wait for the Official Count. The result is phoned in to the Returning Officer and it is then input into the Chief Electoral Office’s National Election Management System. Results are displayed in real time on www.electionresults.govt.nz and at the same time are fed to television and radio media. The Chief Electoral Officer’s target is to have 50% of polling place results available by 10pm on election night and 100% of polling place results available by 11.30pm.

4.2 Advance votes

Advance votes are cast in the 17 days before polling day. Advance votes (other than advance special votes) may be counted from 3pm onwards on polling day at the Returning Officer’s headquarters if the Returning Officer can provide appropriate security. Officials and scrutineers in the secure area must stay there until 7pm. The Chief Electoral Officer’s target is to have advance vote results available by 8.30pm.

4.3 Official results

The official results are compiled in the Returning Officer’s headquarters by following a logical and meticulous process which starts the day after polling day. Electoral rolls are scrutinised to identify voters who have voted more than once, and to compile a list of all people who have voted (the Master Roll). All votes counted on election night are recounted and checked to ensure accuracy. The Returning Officer checks the validity of all special vote declaration forms and the names of special voters against the electoral rolls and the list of late enrolments for the district. If the special voter is eligible to make a special vote and the voter’s name is found, the vote will be counted. The party votes of enrolled voters who voted on the wrong ballot paper are also included in the count.

If a name cannot be found, the declaration form is forwarded to the Registrar of Electors to check the voting qualification of the special voter. If the Registrar can confirm that the voter is enrolled in the electorate, the vote will be counted.

The official results process starts on the Sunday after polling day but cannot be completed until after the last legal day for receiving special votes from other electorates and from Returning Officers overseas (10 days after polling day).

4.4 Declaration of official results

The Chief Electoral Office expects to publish the official results about 14 days after polling day by notice in the Gazette. The results will also be available at www.electionresults.govt.nz.

Party secretaries are asked to liaise with the Chief Electoral Officer on the day that the official results are declared, or to nominate another person to do so on their behalf.

4.5 Election of list candidates

The Chief Electoral Officer determines which list candidates are elected using a statutory formula. (You may appoint a scrutineer to observe this process.) The election follows any electorate recounts and the return of the writ to the Clerk of the House.

The Chief Electoral Officer publishes a notice in the Gazette to declare the election of list candidates.

This declaration is likely to be made about 21 days after polling day, subject to any recount applications.

4.6 Return of deposits

If your party wins 0.5% of the total party votes or one electorate seat, the Chief Electoral Office will refund the $1,000 deposit you paid when lodging your party list. No refund can be made, however, until your party’s financial agent has furnished your audited return of election expenses to the Electoral Commission.