Know Your VotesNZ Election 2026, explained simply

Other languages

This site is in English, and party policies are shown in each party's own words. Official voting information from the Electoral Commission:

7 November is election day, a Saturday.

    All key dates

      Your two votes

      Under MMP you get two votes, and you can give them to different parties. Watch the short video, or read the summary.

      MMP explained in 2 minutes, from the Electoral Commission. Subtitles are available in several languages. Watch on YouTube

      Party vote

      For a party. Decides how many of Parliament's 120 seats each party gets, roughly in proportion to its share.

      Electorate vote

      For your local MP. The candidate with the most votes in your electorate wins. There are 71 electorates: 64 general and 7 Māori.

      How votes become seats
      • The threshold: a party needs at least 5% of the party vote, or to win an electorate, to get seats in Parliament.
      • Electorate MPs are the 71 electorate winners. List MPs fill the remaining seats from each party's ranked list, so each party's total roughly matches its party vote.
      • Forming a government: one party rarely wins enough seats to govern alone. In a coalition, two or more parties form the government together. In a confidence and supply agreement, a party agrees to support the government on certain issues and votes in Parliament.

      Find your electorate Also on vote.nz: the candidates in each electorate and every party's list.

      Policies, in each party's own words

      This compares 8 of the 17 parties on the ballot (see How we chose these). Every party is listed below, with a link to its website.

      Pick a topic to compare the parties, or switch to Party to see everything one party says. Every quote is from the party's own website and links to the full policy. Tap a dotted-underlined word for its meaning.

      View by

      ↑ Choose another topic or party

      Compare with other tools

      Two independent tools that look at the parties in different ways.

      Policy.nz

      Summarises party policies topic by topic in plain, consistent language, with links to the original sources. It also lists each electorate's candidates, and can hide which party wrote each policy so you judge the idea first.

      Run by Policy Limited, an independent, politically neutral project covering New Zealand elections since 2017. Not connected to Know Your Votes.

      Open Policy.nz

      1News Vote Compass

      Rate 30 statements on issues such as tax, public services, crime and the Treaty, and pick what matters most to you. It then compares your views with each party, issue by issue.

      Built by Vox Pop Labs with New Zealand political scientists, from published policies and public statements, then reviewed with the parties. A starting point, not a recommendation: it doesn't measure leadership, trust, local candidates or coalition options. Check its privacy notice first. Not connected to Know Your Votes.

      Open Vote Compass
      How we chose these

        Every party on the ballot

        All 17 registered parties, as listed on the Electoral Commission's register. Links go to each party's own website.

        Polls

        Average party vote across recent nationwide polls. Polls are estimates: a single poll's margin of error is about 3 points either way for the larger parties, and smaller for parties polling lower. An average of several polls is steadier than any one poll, but it is not a prediction.

        This shows party vote, not seats. A party below 5% still gets seats if it wins an electorate. To turn votes into seats, try the seat calculator.

        How each party has moved since August

        Tap a party below to highlight its line.

        See every poll with its source

        Seat calculator

        A what-if tool, not a forecast, using the Electoral Commission's counting method. It starts from the 14-day poll average, with no electorates ticked. A party under 5% still gets seats if it wins an electorate.

        How the seats are worked out
        • A party gets seats only if it wins at least 5% of the party vote or at least one electorate.
        • Votes for parties that don't qualify are left out, and the 120 seats are shared among the rest using the Sainte-Laguë formula: each party's vote is divided by 1, 3, 5, 7 and so on, and the 120 highest results win seats.
        • A party's electorate MPs count towards its share; list MPs fill the rest. If a party wins more electorates than its share, it keeps them and Parliament grows by those extra "overhang" seats.
        • To govern, a party or group of parties needs more than half of all seats: 61 of 120, or more if there are overhang seats.
        • This calculator rounds to what you enter. Real results use exact vote counts, so they can differ by a seat or two.
        How a government is formed
        • A government needs the support of more than half the MPs in Parliament.
        • If no party has that on its own, parties negotiate after the election. They can form a coalition, or a party can govern with another party's agreement to support it on key votes, called a confidence and supply agreement.
        • The seat calculator only adds up numbers. It can't show which parties would agree to work together. More on MMP from the Electoral Commission

        Debates

        Debates shown nationally by broadcasters. Watch links go to the broadcaster's own site, live or as a replay. TVNZ+ may ask you to sign in with a free account. Local candidate meetings in general electorates aren't listed.

        Election news

        Day-to-day coverage from each newsroom's own Election 2026 page. Listed A to Z.

        Independent newsrooms, not connected to Know Your Votes. Their reporting and opinion pieces are their own, and some stories may need a subscription.

        Before you vote

        A quick checklist. Each link goes to the Electoral Commission's official site, vote.nz, unless it says otherwise.

        1. Check you're enrolled by midnight, Sunday 25 October. That's the last day to enrol. Enrol or check your details
        2. See who's standing where you live. Find your electorate, then see its candidates and every party's list.
        3. Compare the parties. See their policies side by side on Policy.nz, or match your own views to the parties with 1News Vote Compass. Both are independent sites, not run by the Electoral Commission.
        4. Know the voting paper. Tick one party on the left (your party vote) and one candidate on the right (your electorate vote). You can vote for just one if you prefer. How to fill it in
        5. Pick when and where. Vote early from Monday 26 October, or on Saturday 7 November, 9am–7pm. Find a voting place or an accessible voting place.

        How to vote

        • No ID needed. Your EasyVote card helps but is optional.
        • Any voting place in New Zealand. Away from home? Fill in a short form.
        • Early from Monday 26 October, or on election day, 9am–7pm.
        Find a voting place on vote.nz

        Information in other formats and languages

        Easy Read, large print, audio, Braille and NZSL · Te reo Māori · Other languages

        Add it to your home screen

        Open Know Your Votes like an app, in one tap.

        1. In Safari, tap Share . It's at the bottom of the screen. On newer iPhones, tap ⋯ first.
        2. Scroll down and tap Add to Home Screen .
        3. Tap Add.

        Using an iPad? Share is at the top right.

        Independent and neutral · not affiliated with any party or the Electoral Commission