Advance voting begins as election enrolment deadline passes

Voter enrolment for the 2026 general election closed at midnight on Sunday. Advance voting has now commenced, with party leaders among the first to cast their ballots.

As of Friday, 92.4 per cent of eligible voters were enrolled, which is lower than the 94.7 per cent recorded in 2023. This leaves approximately 300,000 eligible New Zealanders unenrolled. Of those unenrolled as of 23 October, 43 per cent were aged between 18 and 24.

The Electoral Amendment Act 2025 introduced significant changes, ending the ability for voters to enrol or update details on election day. This overhaul restricted the advance voting window to 12 days before the election and required enrolment to close 13 days prior.

National leader Christopher Luxon defended the changes, stating that people had a year to prepare and that the process was easy. Labour leader Chris Hipkins and Green co-leader Chlöe Swarbrick criticised the amendments, suggesting they were an intentional attempt to disenfranchise specific groups, including young people and Māori.

How it developed

• Tue 27 Oct, 9:46amChristopher Luxon expressed his expectation that final enrolment levels might be higher than those seen in 2014 or 2017.

Where reports differ

• Labour MP Tangi Utikere claimed people were still enrolling at 9pm on Sunday, whereas other reports focused on the midnight deadline.

Compiled from reports by The Post, NZ Herald, Otago Daily Times, RNZ and 1News.