NZ Election 2026: Enrol by Oct 25, Advance Voting Oct 26
New Zealand’s general election is on Saturday, November 7, 2026. You must be enrolled by midnight on Sunday, October 25 for your vote to count. Advance voting starts the next day, Monday, October 26, and you do not need ID to vote. The dates come from the Electoral Commission’s key dates on vote.nz. If you are not sure you are enrolled, check or update your details online now.
The dates
| Date | What happens |
|---|---|
| Tue, Oct 20 | The Electoral Commission’s advice for the last day to post a paper enrolment form |
| Wed, Oct 21 | Voting from overseas starts |
| Sun, Oct 25 | Last day to enrol or update your details (midnight) |
| Mon, Oct 26 | Advance voting starts. It is also Labour Day, a public holiday |
| Fri, Nov 6 | The day before election day: election advertising must end and signs must be down by midnight |
| Sat, Nov 7 | Election day: voting places open 9 am to 7 pm. Preliminary results from 7 pm on electionresults.govt.nz |
| Fri, Nov 27 | Official results declared |
Enrol before Sunday, October 25
- You cannot enrol at a voting place. Not during advance voting and not on election day. If you are not enrolled by midnight on October 25, you cannot vote (vote.nz).
- Online: the quickest way, if you have a New Zealand driver licence, New Zealand passport or RealMe verified identity (enrol or update online). Without ID, you can complete the form online, have it emailed or posted for you to sign, and send it back.
- Paper form: call the 24-hour freephone 0800 36 76 56, or freetext your name and address to 3676, and a form is posted to you. Return it by scanning or photographing it and uploading it, or by email to enrol@vote.nz, or drop it at an enrolment hub. If you post it, the Commission recommends posting by Tuesday, October 20. Forms that arrive by post on Tuesday, October 27 are still accepted, and later ones are not (other ways to enrol).
- Who can enrol: you must be 18 or older, a New Zealand citizen or a resident for electoral purposes, and have lived in New Zealand continuously for 12 months or more at some time in your life. If you are 17, you can fill in a form now and you are enrolled automatically on your 18th birthday. People on work or study visas that require them to leave by a set date cannot enrol (eligibility).
- Moved house? Enrol at the address where you have lived for a month or more by election day. If you are enrolled at an old address you can still vote, but you may need a special vote, and if the move puts you in a different electorate only your party vote counts (vote.nz).
If you enrol after Writ Day on Sunday, October 4 but before the deadline, you will cast a special vote: you fill in a “special declaration vote” form at the voting place before you vote (what to expect, what to do).
How to vote
- Find a voting place. You can vote at any voting place in New Zealand, but it is quicker near home. Days and hours differ by place, and some places are open only before election day or only on election day. The Commission publishes the locations about three weeks before election day, with a map on vote.nz. On election day every voting place is open 9 am to 7 pm.
- Take your EasyVote card if you have one. Cards go out by post or email to people enrolled by October 4, and the first letters and emails began on October 14. If you do not have it or forget it, you can still vote, and you do not need to take ID.
- You get two votes. Your party vote is for the party you want in government. Your electorate vote is for the candidate you want as the MP for your area. Tick one circle on each side of the voting paper, or vote on only one side if you prefer.
- Fold the paper and put it in the ballot box. If you make a mistake, hand back the spoilt paper and ask for another one.
Rules that catch people out
- No photos or filming in a voting place without asking the Commission first. Posting a photo or video of someone filling in their voting paper is a potential offence (vote.nz).
- Social media on election day: from midnight before election day until 7 pm, you cannot post or share content likely to, or meant to, influence someone’s candidate vote or party vote. The rules make no exception for personal views.
- Once you have voted, leave the voting place straight away, to protect other voters’ privacy.
Overseas voters
Voting from overseas starts on Wednesday, October 21. Voting papers are not sent automatically: you download one online or vote in person at an overseas voting place. You can enrol and vote from overseas if you are 18 or older and have lived in New Zealand for 12 months or more at some time, and you are either a New Zealand citizen who has been in New Zealand within the past three years, or a resident for electoral purposes who has been in New Zealand within the past 12 months (vote from overseas, eligibility).
Help
Call the Electoral Commission’s 24-hour freephone, 0800 36 76 56, or go to vote.nz. Election night results appear from 7 pm on electionresults.govt.nz. For the public holiday on October 26 see our page on Labour Day in New Zealand, and for the other big date in New Zealand this month see the India–New Zealand trade deal starting October 20.
Sources
- Electoral Commission, vote.nz: key dates, what to do, enrol by 25 October, other ways to enrol, eligibility, enrol or update online, find a voting place, what to expect at the voting place, vote from overseas
- Employment New Zealand: public holidays and anniversary dates (Labour Day, Monday, October 26)
