The election-night count has finished, but it is not the result. The Electoral Commission says it expects to publish the official results of the 2026 general election on Friday 27 November, once special votes have been checked and counted.
On the preliminary count, National, ACT and New Zealand First have 67 seats in a 131-seat Parliament, where 66 is a majority. That is one seat to spare. Labour, the Greens and Te Pāti Māori have 57, and Opportunity has seven, according to RNZ's results page, which uses Electoral Commission data.
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon told supporters on Saturday night it was "too close to call". Labour leader Chris Hipkins did not concede. "Every vote matters, and every vote must now be counted," he said, RNZ reported.
What is a special vote?
A special vote is cast by anyone who is not on the printed roll where they vote. RNZ and the Electoral Commission list the common cases:
- people who voted outside their home electorate
- people on the unpublished roll
- New Zealanders living overseas
- people who could not get to a voting place, such as those in hospital
- people who enrolled after the printed roll closed on 4 October
Each special vote comes with a signed declaration. It has to go back to the voter's own electorate, where staff check the person was enrolled and eligible before the vote is counted. Overseas votes get 10 days to arrive. The commission told RNZ before the election that special votes take up to ten times longer to check than ordinary votes.
How many are left?
The numbers being quoted differ, because they measure different things.
- Before the election, the Electoral Commission forecast about 700,000 special votes.
- On election night, Luxon referred to "about 300,000" special votes still to count.
- An RNZ analysis published on Sunday morning used an estimate of 399,365 special votes to be tallied.
Not every special vote will count. In 2023, 15,555 were disallowed, mostly because the person was not enrolled. Enrolment closed earlier this year, so Massey University politics professor Richard Shaw told RNZ he expected a higher rejection rate.
What could actually change
Close electorates. RNZ counted six electorates where the margin on election night was under 1000 votes. Special votes could flip any of them.
National's seat total. National won 42 electorates but its party vote would only earn it about 35 seats. Because it already has more seats than its party vote justifies, RNZ says National's total can only rise or fall through those close electorate races. Gaining party vote in the specials will not add to it; losing an electorate will cut it.
The size of Parliament. The 11 overhang seats depend on both the electorate results and the final party vote. If an electorate changes hands, the overhang and the number needed for a majority can change too.
Party vote shares. Labour is ahead of National by 3,650 party votes on the preliminary count. In 2017, 2020 and 2023, RNZ reports, National lost two seats once specials were counted, while Labour, the Greens or Te Pāti Māori picked up seats.
RNZ's modelling, which it says is a scenario and not a prediction, found that if specials split the same way as 2023 the current coalition would narrowly keep its majority. For Labour, the Greens, Te Pāti Māori and Opportunity to reach a majority, those parties would need to do about seven percentage points better in the specials than on election night.
After 27 November
Official results are not quite the end. RNZ reports that a candidate or party secretary can ask for a recount within three working days of the official results, and ties are recounted automatically. The final result has to be declared by 3 December.
Parties are free to start talking about governing arrangements now, and Luxon said caretaker conventions apply in the meantime.
For the full seat-by-seat preliminary snapshot, see our results story from election night. RNZ's live coverage from the night is linked in our election-night guide.
Preliminary figures: RNZ results page (Electoral Commission data), 100% of voting places reported, 8 November 2026. Special votes not included.
Sources
- www.electionresults.govt.nz: www.electionresults.govt.nz
- www.rnz.co.nz: election 2026 results
- www.rnz.co.nz: too close to call wait begins for special votes after cliffhanger election night
- www.rnz.co.nz: election results christopher luxon says outcome too close to call
- www.rnz.co.nz: election uncertainty what happens now
- www.rnz.co.nz: explainer what are special votes and why they could change the election results
- www.rnz.co.nz: 2026 an election night of broken records where special votes are key
