2020 New Zealand general election

2020 New Zealand general election

17 October 2020
All 120 seats in the House of Representatives 61 seats needed for a majority
Opinion polls
Turnout	2,877,117 (82.5%; 2.75 pp)
First party Second party Third party   Judith Collins MP.jpg Leader Jacinda Ardern Judith Collins David Seymour Party Labour National ACT Leader since 1 August 2017 14 July 2020 4 October 2014 Leader's seat Mount Albert Papakura Epsom Last election 46 seats, 36.89% 56 seats, 44.45% 1 seat, 0.50% Seats before 46 54 1 Seats won 64 35 10 Seat change 18 19 9 Popular vote 1,171,544 638,606 190,139 Percentage 49.15% 26.79% 7.98% Swing 12.26 pp 17.66 pp 7.48 pp   Fourth party Fifth party Sixth party   Māori Leader James Shaw Marama Davidson John Tamihere Debbie Ngarewa-Packer Winston Peters Party Green Māori Party NZ First Leader since 30 May 2015 8 April 2018 15 April 2020 18 July 1993 Leader's seat List Ran in Tāmaki Makaurau & Te Tai Hauāuru (lost) List (lost) Last election 8 seats, 6.27% 0 seats, 1.18% 9 seats, 7.20% Seats before 8 0 9 Seats won 10 1 0 Seat change 2 1 9 Popular vote 180,347 23,932 63,534 Percentage 7.57% 1.00% 2.67% Swing 1.30 pp 0.18 pp 4.53 pp
Map of the general election. Electorate results are shown on the left, Maori electorate results in the centre, and the list members on the right.
Prime Minister before election Jacinda Ardern Labour Subsequent Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern Labour

The 2020 New Zealand general election was held on Saturday 17 October 2020 to determine the composition of the 53rd parliament. Voters elected 120 members to the House of Representatives, 72 from single-member electorates and 48 from closed party lists. Two referendums, one on the personal use of cannabis and one on euthanasia, were also held. The initial results for the general election have been released, with preliminary referendum results being released on 30 October. The final official results of the election and the referendum will be released on 6 November.

The governing Labour Party, led by incumbent Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern won the election in a landslide victory against the National Party, led by Judith Collins. It was the first time a New Zealand political party has secured a majority government under the mixed-member proportional representation (MMP) system introduced in 1996. Ardern also achieved the highest Labour percentage of the party vote (49.1%) from the past 50 years, winning in "virtually every single electorate". Likewise, this election was the second worst result for the National Party, only performing poorer in the 2002 general election.

In a surprise victory, the Greens' Chlöe Swarbrick won the Auckland Central seat vacated by National's retiring Nikki Kaye with a margin of 492 votes over Labour's Helen White. Right-wing libertarian party ACT and the Greens both gained seats in the election, while the Māori Party re-entered Parliament by gaining the seat of Waiariki. Populist nationalist party New Zealand First, led by Deputy Prime Minister Winston Peters in coalition with Labour, suffered its worst-ever result, losing every seat they held.

While results of opinion polls earlier in the year were not particularly strong for either major party, Ardern and the Labour Government were praised for their response to the COVID-19 pandemic in New Zealand. Polls then suggested that Labour could either attain a majority government or could govern with confidence-and-supply from the Greens. In contrast, the leadership of the National Party changed twice in less than three months, unable to improve its poor polling results. Labour is believed to have gained support from centrist voters, many of whom had previously voted for National under John Key.

Background

Main article: 2017 New Zealand general election

The final results of the 2017 election gave National 56 seats, while Labour and the Greens combined had 54 seats. New Zealand First won 9 seats, which put them in the position to give either National or Labour the 61 seats needed to form a government. On 19 October 2017, Winston Peters, leader of New Zealand First, announced that he would form a coalition government with Labour. On the same day, James Shaw, leader of the Green Party, announced that his party would give confidence and supply to a Labour–NZ First government. The result of the election saw the Labour Party regain power after nine years in opposition, as well as the end of the Fifth National Government which had been in power for three terms (2008–2017). The 2017 election also saw the first party under MMP in New Zealand to lead a government without commanding the plurality of the party vote.

On 22 May 2020, a leadership election occurred following two low polls for the National Party, in which Todd Muller replaced Simon Bridges as leader and Leader of the Opposition, and Nikki Kaye replaced Paula Bennett as deputy leader of the party. Muller himself then resigned on 14 July 2020 citing health reasons, leading to another leadership election later that day, in which Collins was voted into the National leadership position.

Electoral system

Main article: Electoral system of New Zealand

New Zealand uses a mixed-member proportional (MMP) voting system to elect the House of Representatives. Each voter gets two votes, one for a political party (the party vote) and one for a local candidate (the electorate vote). Political parties that meet the threshold (5% of the party vote or one electorate seat) receive seats in the House in proportion to the percentage of the party vote they receive. 72 of the 120 seats are filled by the MPs elected from the electorates, with the winner in each electorate determined by the first past the post method (i.e. most votes wins). The remaining 48 seats are filled by candidates from each party's closed party list. If a party wins more electorates than seats it is entitled to under the party vote, an overhang results; in this case, the House will add extra seats to cover the overhang.

The political party or party bloc with the majority of the seats in the House forms the Government. Since the introduction of MMP in 1996, no party had won enough votes to win an outright majority of seats, until the landslide 2020 Labour victory, which gave them 64 seats. When no party has commanded a majority, parties have had to negotiate with other parties to form a coalition government or a minority government.

Electorate boundaries

The 2014 electoral boundaries showing electorates out of tolerance following the 2018 census and Māori electoral option. Red electorates are more than 5% above quota and therefore must drop population. Blue electorates are more than 5% below quota and therefore must add population.

Electorate boundaries for the next election are required to be redrawn after each New Zealand census. The most recent census was held in 2018.

By law, the number of South Island general electorates is fixed at 16, with the number of North Island general electorates and Māori electorates increasing or decreasing in proportion to the population. Each electorate must have the same population, with a tolerance of plus or minus five percent. For the 2014 and 2017 elections, there were 48 North Island general electorates and 7 Māori electorates, which, along with the 16 South Island electorates, gives a nationwide total of 71 electorates.

On 23 September 2019, Statistics New Zealand announced that population growth necessitated one additional North Island general electorate, bringing the total number of North Island general electorates to 49 and the overall number of electorates to 72 (reducing the number of list seats available by one). Statistics New Zealand also announced that 11 North Island, three South Island, and two Māori electorates were above 5% tolerance, while five South Island electorates and one Māori electorate were below 5% tolerance.

The Representation Commission undertook a review of electoral boundaries. This review was commenced in October 2019 and was completed in April 2020. The boundaries will apply in the 2020 general election, and the subsequent general election. In total, 36 electorates remained unchanged, 35 electorates were modified, and one new electorate created. The most significant boundary changes occurred in the Auckland, Waikato, central Canterbury, and Otago regions, with smaller changes in the Northland and Tasman regions.

The new electorate was created in South Auckland and named Takanini. Taking area from the Hunua, Manurewa, and Papakura electorates, Takanini is predicted to be a National-tilting to marginal electorate. Takanini's creation cascaded existing electorates north through Auckland and south through Waikato. Significant changes to the north include Manukau East taking Sylvia Park and Panmure from Maungakiekie, with the electorate renamed Panmure-Ōtāhuhu; New Lynn taking the Waitakere Ranges from Helensville; Helensville taking Wellsford, Warkworth and the Kowhai Coast from Rodney and Northland, with the electorate renamed Kaipara ki Mahurangi; and Rodney taking Dairy Flat from Helensville and being renamed Whangaparāoa. To the south, Papakura took the entire Hunua electorate east of State Highway 1, in exchange for Hunua taking the northern part of the Waikato electorate as far south as, and including, Te Kauwhata. Hunua subsequently returned to its pre-2008 name, Port Waikato. Waikato took Te Aroha and the remainder of the Matamata-Piako District area from Coromandel, allowing Coromandel to take Omokoroa from Bay of Plenty.

In the South Island, Selwyn lost the Rakaia area to Rangitata, Mcleans Island and Christchurch Airport to Ilam, and Hornby South to Wigram. Ilam gained Avonhead from Wigram, allowing Wigram to take Aidanfield from Port Hills, which in turn allowed Port Hills to take the entire Banks Peninsula from Selwyn. Port Hills subsequently returned to its pre-2008 name of Banks Peninsula. Clutha-Southland lost the Tuatapere-Te Waewae area to Invercargill and Balclutha, Milton and the lower Clutha Valley to Dunedin South, while gaining Alexandra, Clyde and the Clutha Valley upstream of Beaumont from Waitaki. Waitaki in turn took the Palmerston area from Dunedin North, allowing Dunedin North to take the Otago Peninsula from Dunedin South. The Otago-Southland boundary changes saw three electorates change names: Clutha-Southland to Southland, Dunedin North to Dunedin, and Dunedin South to Taieri. In the Tasman region, the town of Brightwater moved from Nelson to West Coast-Tasman to bring the latter electorate within quota.

Two electorates had name changes to correct their spelling. Rimutaka was renamed Remutaka in line with its namesake, the Remutaka Range, which was renamed in 2017 as part of a Treaty of Waitangi settlement. The Whangārei electorate was renamed by adding a macron to the second "a".

Schedule

Governor-General Dame Patsy Reddy (right) issues the writ for the election before the chief electoral officer, Alicia Wright (left), on 13 September 2020.

Unless an early election is called or the election date is set to circumvent holding a by-election, a general election is held every three years. The previous election was held on 23 September 2017.

The governor-general (Patsy Reddy) must issue writs for an election within seven days of the expiration or dissolution of the current parliament. Under section 17 of the Constitution Act 1986, parliament expires three years "from the day fixed for the return of the writs issued for the last preceding general election of members of the House of Representatives, and no longer." The writs for the 2017 election were returned on 12 October 2017; as a result, the 52nd Parliament would have to dissolve no later than 12 October 2020. Consequently, the last day for issuance of the writs of election is 19 October 2020. Since the passage of the Electoral Amendment Act 2020, which came into force on 11 March 2020, the writs must be returned within 60 days of their issuance (save for any judicial recount, death of a candidate, or emergency adjournment), which would be 18 December 2020. Because polling day must be on a Saturday, and ten days is required for counting of special votes, the last possible date for this general election is 21 November 2020.

On 28 January 2020, Ardern announced that the election would be held on 19 September, with the 52nd Parliament holding its last sitting day on 6 August and dissolving on 12 August. On 17 August 2020, Ardern delayed the election to 17 October, with the dissolution of Parliament delayed until 6 September. The writ date for the election, which was originally set for 16 August, was subsequently delayed until 13 September. Political parties would have had to be registered by this day to contest the party vote.

The timetable for the general election is as follows:

28 January 2020 (Tuesday)	Prime Minister Ardern announces the general election will be held on 19 September.
6 July 2020 (Monday)	Electoral Commission begins enrolment update campaign.
18 July 2020 (Saturday)	Election hoardings may be erected (subject to local council rules).
17 August 2020 (Monday)	Prime Minister Ardern changes the election date to 17 October.
18 August 2020 (Tuesday)	The regulated election advertising period begins.
6 September 2020 (Sunday)	The 52nd Parliament is dissolved.
13 September 2020 (Sunday)	Writ day – Governor-General issues formal direction to the Electoral Commission to hold the election. Last day to ordinarily enrol to vote (late enrolments must cast special votes) Official campaigning begins; radio and television advertising begins
17 September 2020 (Thursday)	Deadline (12:00) for registered parties to lodge bulk nominations of candidates and party lists.
18 September 2020 (Friday)	Deadline (12:00) for individual candidates to lodge nominations.
30 September 2020 (Wednesday)	Overseas voting begins
3 October 2020 (Saturday)	Advance voting begins
16 October 2020 (Friday)	Advance and overseas voting ends. Last day to enrol to vote (except in-person at polling places). The regulated election advertising period ends; all election advertising must be taken down by 23:59.
17 October 2020 (Saturday)	Election day – polling places open 09:00 to 19:00. People may enrol in-person at polling places. Preliminary election results released progressively after 19:00
30 October 2020 (Friday)	Preliminary referendum results released
6 November 2020 (Friday)	Official election and referendum results declared
12 November 2020 (Thursday)	Writ for election returned; official declaration of elected members (subject to judicial recounts)

Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic

See also: COVID-19 pandemic in New Zealand

The original date of 19 September was announced before the COVID-19 pandemic had reached New Zealand. In April 2020, the National Party doubted that the public would be ready for an election in September, and New Zealand First leader Winston Peters called for the election to be delayed to 21 November. In May 2020, Ardern said she did not intend to change the date of the election and Chief Electoral Officer Alicia Wright said that the Electoral Commission was working to the dates originally set by the Prime Minister.

After new cases of community transmission in Auckland were reported on 11 August 2020, with the COVID-19 alert level being raised to level 3 in the Auckland region and level 2 elsewhere, there were growing calls to delay the dissolution of Parliament and the election. The following day, Collins called for the election to be delayed until at least after November with the aim of allowing parties more time to campaign, and all major political parties suspended their campaigns. Delaying the dissolution of parliament beyond 12 October 2020, and therefore the election date beyond 28 November 2020, would require a legislative amendment. As the length of the parliamentary term is entrenched, such an amendment would require a 75% supermajority to pass.

On 12 August 2020, Prime Minister Ardern delayed the dissolution of Parliament until 17 August and was seeking advice from the Electoral Commission regarding the election timeline. On 17 August, Ardern announced that the general election would be pushed back to 17 October while the dissolution of Parliament would be delayed until 6 September.

The Chief Electoral Officer has powers under the Electoral Act to delay polling at some or all polling places for up to three days due to unforeseen circumstances. This can be extended for up to seven days at a time following consultation with the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition.

Parties and candidates

Further information: Candidates in the 2020 New Zealand general election by electorate and Party lists in the 2020 New Zealand general election

Political parties registered with the Electoral Commission can contest the general election as a party. To register, parties must have at least 500 financial members, an auditor, and an appropriate party name. A registered party may submit a party list to contest the party vote, and can have a party campaign expenses limit in addition to limits on individual candidates' campaigns. Unregistered parties and independents can contest the electorate vote only.

Seventeen of the eighteen registered parties have submitted a list and will contest the general election. The Mana Party did not submit a party list or apply for a broadcasting allocation, and has endorsed and offered its resources to the Māori Party.

Party		Leader(s)	Founded	Ideology	2017 result	Current seats
	National	Judith Collins	1936	Liberal conservatism	44.45%	54
	Labour	Jacinda Ardern	1916	Social democracy	36.89%	46
	NZ First	Winston Peters	1993	Nationalism, populism	7.20%	9
	Green	James Shaw / Marama Davidson	1990	Green politics, social democracy	6.27%	8
	ACT	David Seymour	1994	Classical liberalism, right-libertarianism	0.50%	1
	Advance NZ	Jami-Lee Ross / Billy Te Kahika	2020	Conspiracism	—	0
	Opportunities	Geoff Simmons	2016	Radical centrism, environmentalism	2.44%	0
	Māori Party	John Tamihere / Debbie Ngarewa-Packer	2004	Māori rights	1.18%	0
	Legalise Cannabis	Maki Herbert / Michael Appleby	1996	Cannabis legalisation	0.31%	0
	New Conservative	Leighton Baker	2011	Conservatism, right-wing populism	0.24%	0
	Outdoors	Sue Grey / Alan Simmons	2015	Environmentalism, conspiracism	0.06%	0
	Social Credit	Chris Leitch	1953	Social credit, economic democracy	0.03%	0
	Heartland	Mark Ball	2020	Agrarianism	—	0
	ONE	Edward Shanly / Stephanie Harawira	2020	Christian fundamentalism	—	0
	Sustainable NZ	Vernon Tava	2019	Environmentalism, centrism	—	0
	TEA	John Hong / Susanna Kruger	2020	Anti-racism, fiscal conservatism	—	0
	Vision NZ	Hannah Tamaki	2019	Christian nationalism	—	0

MPs not standing for re-election

Name	Party		Electorate/List	Term in office	Date announced	Notes
David Carter		National	List	1994–2020	17 October 2018
Ruth Dyson		Labour	Port Hills	1993–2020	3 March 2019
Alastair Scott		National	Wairarapa	2014–2020	25 June 2019
Nathan Guy		National	Ōtaki	2005–2020	30 July 2019
Clare Curran		Labour	Dunedin South	2008–2020	27 August 2019
Maggie Barry		National	North Shore	2011–2020	5 November 2019
Gareth Hughes		Green	List	2010–2020	17 November 2019
Sarah Dowie		National	Invercargill	2014–2020	11 February 2020	Initially re-selected as Invercargill candidate
Nicky Wagner		National	List	2005–2020
Clayton Mitchell		NZ First	List	2014–2020	5 June 2020
Anne Tolley		National	East Coast	1999–2002 2005–2020	27 June 2020	Initially announced on 20 December 2019 as list-only with intention of becoming Speaker of the House
Paula Bennett		National	Upper Harbour	2005–2020	29 June 2020	Initially announced on 14 August 2019 as list-only
Hamish Walker		National	Clutha-Southland	2017–2020	8 July 2020	Was re-selected as candidate for the Southland electorate but resigned after leaking private information of COVID-19 patients.
Jian Yang		National	List	2011–2020	10 July 2020
Nikki Kaye		National	Auckland Central	2008–2020	16 July 2020	Was re-selected as candidate for the Auckland Central electorate but resigned following the resignation of Todd Muller, to whom she was deputy.
Amy Adams		National	Selwyn	2008–2020		Announced intention to retire from politics at upcoming election on 25 June 2019, and a new National candidate was subsequently selected for Selwyn. After a leadership change in the National Party, she reversed her decision and announced she would stand again as a list-only candidate. Adams announced her retirement again shortly after Todd Muller resigned as the party leader.
Raymond Huo		Labour	List	2008–2014 2017–2020	21 July 2020	Initially re-selected as a list-only candidate (rank 26) but later announced he would not contest the election.
Iain Lees-Galloway		Labour	Palmerston North	2008–2020	22 July 2020	Initially re-selected as candidate for Palmerston North and ranked 13 on the Labour Party list, but later announced he would not contest the election after being removed as a Minister for having a consensual, but inappropriate relationship with a former staff member.

MPs standing for re-election as List-only MPs

Name	Party		Electorate/List	Term in office	Date announced	Notes
Kris Faafoi		Labour	Mana	2010–present	8 February 2020
Paulo Garcia		National	List	2019–2020	11 February 2020	Stood in the New Lynn electorate at the 2017 election
Julie Anne Genter		Green	List	2011–present	25 May 2020	Stood in the Mount Albert electorate at the 2017 election
Louisa Wall		Labour	Manurewa	2008 2011–present	29 May 2020	Faced two challengers at the 30 May reselection as the Labour candidate in Manurewa, but withdrew to stand as a list-only candidate
Jami-Lee Ross		Independent (Advance NZ)	Botany	2011–2020	15 September 2020	Previously a National MP, Ross left that party in 2018 and began sitting as an independent. He announced he would contest Botany for the Advance New Zealand party, but later decided to only seek a list position.

Campaigning

Expense limits and broadcasting allocations

Election hoardings lining the Dunedin Northern Motorway, August 2020

During the regulated period prior to election day, parties and candidates have limits on how much they may spend on election campaigning. The limits are updated every year to reflect inflation. It is illegal in New Zealand to campaign on election day itself, or within 10 metres of an advance polling booth.

For the 2020 general election, the regulated period runs from 18 August to 16 October 2020. Every registered party contending the party vote is permitted to spend $1,199,000 plus $28,200 per electorate candidate on campaigning during the regulated period, excluding radio and television campaigning (broadcasting funding is allocated separately). For example, a registered party with candidates in all 72 electorates is permitted to spend $3,229,400 on campaigning for the party vote. Electorate candidates are permitted to spend $28,200 each on campaigning for the electorate vote.

Registered parties are allocated a separate broadcasting budget for radio and television campaigning. Only money from the broadcasting allocation can be used to purchase airtime; production costs can come from the general election expenses budget. The Electoral Commission determines how much broadcasting funding each party gets, set out by part 6 of the Broadcasting Act 1989. The allocation is based a number of factors including the number of seats in the current Parliament, results of the previous general election and any by-elections since, and support in opinion polls.

A joint statement was released on 9 June 2020 by the Social Credit Party, Māori Party, New Conservative Party, New Zealand Outdoors Party, and Aotearoa Legalise Cannabis Party in which they condemn the broadcasting allocations and call for reform.

An initial broadcasting statement was released from the Electoral Commission on 29 May 2020, including parties that have not yet registered but intend to. The broadcasting allocation was revised on 11 September 2020, redistributing funds from parties that failed to register in time for the election. For comparison, the cost of a 30-second slot on TVNZ in October 2020 ranged from $250 in overnight slots up to $22,000 for slots during the 1 News at 6pm bulletin.

Party		Broadcasting allocation (NZD)
	National	$1,335,255
	Labour	$1,249,111
	Green	$323,046
	NZ First	$323,046
	ACT	$150,755
	Māori Party	$150,755
	Opportunities	$150,755
	Advance NZ	$64,609
	Legalise Cannabis	$64,609
	New Conservative	$64,609
	ONE	$53,840
	Outdoors	$53,840
	Social Credit	$53,840
	Sustainable NZ	$53,840
	Vision NZ	$53,840

Third-party promoters, such as trade unions and lobby groups, can campaign during the regulated period. The maximum expense limit for the election is $338,000 for those promoters registered with the Electoral Commission, and $13,600 for unregistered promoters. As of 29 September 2020, the following third-party promoters were registered for the general election (i.e. excluding those solely registered for one or both of the referendums).

• ActionStation
• Brook Valley Community Group
• Cannabis Answers
• New Zealand Council of Trade Unions
• Council of Licenced Firearms Owners
• New Zealand Educational Institute
• Every Kiwi Vote Counts
• Family First New Zealand
• First Union
• Forest and Bird
• Hobson's Pledge
• JustSpeak
• Post Primary Teachers' Association
• New Zealand Public Service Association
• Right to Life New Zealand
• SAFE
• New Zealand Taxpayers' Union
• Victoria University of Wellington Students' Association
• Voice for Life

Party campaigns

After the announcement of 19 September as election date, parties started their campaigns. Party campaigns throughout 2020 were heavily impacted by COVID-19, with parties unable to host events during alert levels 3 and 4.

National

The National Party initially chose Paula Bennett as its campaign manager. (All previous elections since 2005 had seen National with Steven Joyce as campaign manager.) On 2 February 2020, Simon Bridges announced that National would not want to form a coalition with New Zealand First after the election should NZ First become kingmaker once again. Bridges stated: "I can't trust New Zealand First", adding that "A vote for NZ First is a vote for Labour and the Greens". Bridges said that he would, however, be open to working with ACT. NZ First leader Winston Peters criticised Bridges' decision, saying that "narrowing your options can be the worst strategic move you will ever make".

Owing to the four-week lockdown in New Zealand from 23 March during the COVID-19 pandemic, National temporarily suspended their campaign on the same day.

On 22 May 2020, following low poll results for National in the week prior, a National parliamentary caucus meeting replaced Simon Bridges and Paula Bennett with Todd Muller and Nikki Kaye as leader and deputy leader respectively. In his first speech as leader, Muller expressed his openness to working with Winston Peters and New Zealand First after the election. In conjunction with a reshuffle of caucus responsibilities on 25 May, Muller announced that the party had replaced Bennett as campaign manager with Gerry Brownlee. On 14 July 2020 Muller resigned as National Party leader. An emergency party caucus meeting replaced him later that night with Collins, with Gerry Brownlee becoming the new deputy leader.

After new cases of community transmission in Auckland were reported on 11 August, with the alert level being raised to level 3 in Auckland and level 2 elsewhere, National halted their campaigning for the duration of the lockdown.

On 17 July, National announced they would spend $31 billion on transport projects over the coming decade and would the Auckland regional fuel tax. On 11 September, National announced that they would allow electric vehicles in bus lanes, make one third of the Government's light vehicle fleet electric by 2023, and aim to have 80,000 electric vehicles in use by 2023 (four times more than there currently were). On 15 September, they announced a $30 million policy to improve children's dental care. On 29 September, National announced they would double funding for the Serious Fraud Office to $25 million annually and rename it to the Serious Fraud and Anti-corruption Agency.

Labour

Megan Woods was chosen as campaign manager. On 29 January 2020, Ardern announced the New Zealand Upgrade Programme, a NZ$12 billion infrastructure improvement package. After new cases of community transmission in Auckland were reported on 11 August, with the alert level being raised to level 3 in Auckland and level 2 elsewhere, Labour halted their campaigning for the duration of the lockdown.

On 7 September, Ardern committed to making Matariki a public holiday from 2022 if Labour was re-elected. On 9 September, Finance spokesperson Grant Robertson announced that Labour would reintroduce the top 39% tax bracket for income above $180,000, applying to 2% of people. He said the new rate would generate around $550 million a year in revenue, needed to pay off the debt incurred by the COVID-19 response plan. On 10 September, Ardern announced Labour would aim to make electricity in New Zealand 100% renewable by 2030, five years before the previous target of 2035. This would be done by banning the building of new coal or gas power plants, boosting the solar sector, and speeding up the consent process for renewable energy projects.

NZ First

New Zealand First leader Winston Peters named the provincial growth fund in its current form as his first bottom line for any post-election coalition talks. Peters also outlined the party's immigration policy ahead of the election, saying: "The current immigration track must stop and only New Zealand First, with a stronger hand in 2020, can make this happen", and "a vote for New Zealand First will see the permanent residency qualification raised from two to five years". Peters also said the party wanted to lead a public discussion with voters about a "population policy", including defining acceptable population growth and the time for a migrant to obtain permanent residency. At the campaign launch on 19 July 2020, Peters promised a cap of 15,000 highly skilled immigrants and recruiting 1,000 new police officers. After new cases of community transmission in Auckland were reported on 11 August, with the alert level being raised to level 3 in Auckland and level 2 elsewhere, New Zealand First halted their campaigning.

Green

On 28 June 2020, the Green Party released a Poverty Action Plan, which included a guaranteed minimum income of $325 a week. Green co-leader Marama Davidson stated that “Our Guaranteed Minimum Income is about fairness. It’s about ensuring those who have done well under our current system pay it forward and share that success with people who are struggling." This was followed up by the launch of a Clean Energy Plan, to ensure a "just transition away from fossil fuels". The plan included a pledge to establish a Clean Energy Industry Training Plan and to end coal use in New Zealand by 2030. The Green Party launched a 52-page "Think Ahead, Act Now" election platform on 25 July 2020. Green co-leader James Shaw described it as "a reference document that will guide our caucus and our ministers as we navigate the everyday choices that our Government will have to make." After new cases of community transmission in Auckland were reported on 11 August, with the alert level being raised to level 3 in Auckland and level 2 elsewhere, the Green Party halted their campaigning for the duration of the lockdown. On 15 September, Shaw announced that the Green Party would propose a bill that makes it mandatory for large companies to make annual disclosures about the impact of climate change on their businesses and declare strategies for mitigating these impacts.

The Green Party is campaigning for the electorate vote in the electorates of Auckland Central and Tāmaki Makaurau.

ACT

ACT launched their party campaign on 12 July 2020. ACT party leader David Seymour criticised the government's COVID-19 response as "clearly, demonstrably unsustainable", and called for the open pursuing of "having the world’s smartest border, not as a rhetorical device, but a practical reality." The party also unveiled a new employment insurance scheme, with 0.55% of income tax being paid to a ring-fenced insurance fund. If someone became unemployed, they would be able to claim 55% of their average weekly earnings over the year up to $60,000. After new cases of community transmission in Auckland were reported on 11 August, with the alert level being raised to level 3 in Auckland and level 2 elsewhere, ACT cancelled its upcoming campaign events.

Māori

The Māori Party launched their campaign on 20 June 2020 at the Hoani Waititi marae, with a flagship "Whānau First" policy, ensuring that a quarter of government spending over the next two years is spent on projects led by Māori and involving Māori-led businesses. Māori Party co-leader Debbie Ngarewa-Packer was quoted as saying that "Māori must be guaranteed resources for Māori recovery, we cannot go backwards to how we were living pre-COVID – that is not an option for our whānau, too many of whom are struggling just to survive". Crushed in the last election due to voters in Māori electorates greatly choosing Labour over the Māori Party, co-leader John Tamihere made it clear they would not re-enter a coalition government with National like they did in previous terms of Parliament; On 19 July 2020, the party released a climate change policy, involving an end to new offshore oil and gas permits, as well as withdrawing existing onshore and offshore permits with the goal of ending the oil and gas industry by 2030. The party would also ban new seabed mining permits and withdraw existing permits, as well as establish a $1 billion Pūngao Auaha for "Māori-owned community energy projects and solar panel and insulation instillations". On 14 September, the party announced their major policies, including changing the official name of the country to Aotearoa by 2026, restoring the original Māori names of all towns and cities, requiring primary schools to incorporate Māori language into 25% and later 50% of the curriculum, and requiring all state-funded broadcasters to have a basic fluency level of Māori.

New Conservative

The New Conservatives ruled out an alliance with both the Labour-led coalition and Billy Te Kahika Jr's New Zealand Public Party. The party received a broadcasting allocation of $62,186 for the 2020 election. The party made headlines during the campaign following repeated vandalism of their advertising in multiple cities, for posting a meme comparing a New Conservative candidate to Nelson Mandela and Abraham Lincoln, and when a candidate repeatedly and falsely claimed to be an ambassador for the Cancer Society charity.

On 6 October 2020, party leader Leighton Baker mounted a legal challenge at the Auckland High Court to protest the party's exclusion from public broadcaster TVNZ's Minor Party debate scheduled for 8 October. To qualify for inclusion in the debate, parties not represented in Parliament must score at least 3 percent in the 1 News Colmar-Brunton Poll held during the last six months. The hearing was held on 7 October. The High Court dismissed the New Conservatives' bid, ruling in favor of TVNZ.

On 10 October 2020, it was reported that the New Conservatives' Instagram page had been hacked the previous day with pro-LGBT messages posted on their message feed. In addition, screenshots of the party's logo were shown in rainbow colors. The hack was condemned by party leader Baker and deputy party leader Ikilei, who accused their opponents of intolerance. According to NZME journalist Ethan Griffiths, the hacker had temporarily gained access to the New Conservative Instagram account by posing as Deputy Leader Ikilei on Instagram.

Advance NZ

Advance NZ launched their campaign on 26 July 2020, merging with the New Zealand Public Party, a party described as "conspiracy theory-driven". The Public Party is to keep their identity and structure, but with the exception of Billy Te Kahika in Te Tai Tokerau, who is running on the Public Party name, all candidates will run as Advance NZ candidates. Jami-Lee Ross, MP for Botany and Te Kahika are to become co-leaders of Advance NZ. Ross stated in regards to the merger that "By forming an alliance of parties, together with other small parties that believe in greater freedom and democracy, we stand a stronger chance of uniting together and crossing the 5 percent threshold in to Parliament," and branded Advance NZ "the new Alliance Party of the 2020s, but a centrist version of that model". At the launch, Te Kahika promised an immediate repeal of the COVID-19 Public Health Response Act 2020. Ross also reportedly told the NZ Herald that the party was in talks with six smaller parties about joining Advance NZ. On 6 August 2020, the party was registered with the Electoral Commission.

Debates

Television New Zealand (TVNZ) hosted three television leaders' debates: two between the National and Labour leaders, and one multi-party debate. The first National–Labour debate was moderated by John Campbell, with the multi party debate and second National–Labour debate hosted by Jessica Mutch McKay. A young voters debate was hosted by Jack Tame. Newshub Nation hosted a "power brokers" debate, which included the Māori Party, with the inclusion threshold being having held a seat in Parliament over the past 2 parliamentary terms. This was confirmed on 27 August 2020, when Newshub announced a leaders' debate on 30 September between National and Labour, and a "powerbrokers" debate which included the Greens, ACT and the Māori Party.

TVNZ qualification criteria

The inclusion criteria set by TVNZ for its multi-party debate was either having current representation in Parliament or winning 3% in a poll, which sparked controversy as those criteria excluded minor parties such as the Māori Party, The Opportunities Party and the New Conservative Party from the debate. Māori Party co-leader John Tamihere said TVNZ had a responsibility to "reflect Māori perspectives, as laid out in ministerial direction". Race Relations Commissioner Meng Foon endorsed the Māori Party position. The requirements were modified on 8 September 2020, when TVNZ broadened their criteria to use previous parliamentary representation as a marker, including the Māori Party. The parliamentary criterion was expanded to include "leaders of registered parties where the leader has been an MP, or party has been represented, in either/both of the past two parliaments."

style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #D82A20;" data-sort-value="New Zealand Labour Party" | style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #00529F;" data-sort-value="New Zealand National Party" | style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #FDE401;" data-sort-value="ACT New Zealand" | style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #098137;" data-sort-value="Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand" | style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #000000;" data-sort-value="New Zealand First" | style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #B2001A;" data-sort-value="Māori Party" | style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #1987D1;" data-sort-value="Advance New Zealand" | style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #00AEEF;" data-sort-value="New Conservative Party (New Zealand)" | style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #32DAC3;" data-sort-value="The Opportunities Party" | style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #33CC33;" data-sort-value="Aotearoa Legalise Cannabis Party" | style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #008000;" data-sort-value="New Zealand Outdoors Party" | style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #008080;" data-sort-value="Sustainable New Zealand Party" | style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #F9D11A;" data-sort-value="ONE Party" | style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #CBE800;" data-sort-value="Social Credit Party (New Zealand)" | style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #095B7E;" data-sort-value="Vision NZ" | style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #185533;" data-sort-value="Heartland New Zealand Party" | style="width: 2px; color:inherit; background-color: #5A276C;" data-sort-value="Tea Party New Zealand" |

Qualifying parties for the TVNZ multi-party debate
Party		Met polling criterion (≥3% in any Colmar Brunton poll)	Met parliamentary criterion (Having seats in either of the last two Parliaments)	Attending debate
Labour	Yes (48% in September 2020 poll)	Yes	No
National	Yes (35% in September 2020 poll)	Yes	No
ACT	Yes (8% in September 2020 poll)	Yes	Yes
Green	Yes (6% in September 2020 poll)	Yes	Yes
NZ First	Yes (3.3% in February 2020 poll)	Yes	Yes
Māori Party	No (0.9% in September 2020 poll)	Yes	Yes
Advance NZ	No (0.8% in September 2020 poll)	Yes	Yes
New Conservative	No (1.6% in September 2020 poll)	No	No
Opportunities	No (1.1% in September 2020 poll)	No	No
Legalise Cannabis	No (0.2% in September 2020 poll)	No	No
Outdoors	No (0.2% in September 2020 poll)	No	No
Sustainable NZ	No (0.1% in September 2020 poll)	No	No
ONE	No (0.2% in July 2020 poll)	No	No
Social Credit	No (0.1% in June 2020 poll)	No	No
Vision NZ	No (0.1% in May 2020 poll)	No	No
Heartland	No	No	No
TEA	No	No	No

Table of major debates

Date	Time (NZT)	Organiser(s)	Subject	Participants
				National	Labour	NZ First	Green	ACT	Advance NZ	Māori	TOP	Vision NZ
				style="background:Template:New Zealand National Party/meta/color"|	style="background:Template:New Zealand Labour Party/meta/color"|	style="background:Template:New Zealand First/meta/color"|	style="background:Template:Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand/meta/color"|	style="background:Template:ACT New Zealand/meta/color"|	style="background:Template:Advance New Zealand/meta/color"|	style="background:Template:Māori Party/meta/color"|	style="background:Template:The Opportunities Party/meta/color"|	style="background:Template:Vision NZ/meta/color"|
6 August	17:30–19:30	CID	Foreign affairs	Present Bridges	Present Parker	Present Tabuteau	Present Shaw	Present Seymour	Not invited	Not invited	Not invited	Not invited
18 September	11:45–13:15	WasteMINZ	Waste and environment	Present Simpson	Present Parker	Absent	Present Sage	Present Court	Not invited	Absent	Present Christie	Not invited
22 September	19:00–20:30	TVNZ	Leaders' debate	Present Collins	Present Ardern	Not invited	Not invited	Not invited	Not invited	Not invited	Not invited	Not invited
22 September	19:00–20:30	ASB/Newshub	Finance	Present Goldsmith	Present Robertson	Present Tabuteau	Present Shaw	Present Seymour	Not invited	Not invited	Not invited	Not invited
24 September	18:00–21:00	Te Taumata Toi-a-Iwi	Arts and culture	Present Young	Present Sepuloni	Absent	Present Swarbrick	Absent	Not invited	Not invited	Not invited	Not invited
28 September		TVNZ/University of Auckland	Young voters	Present Brown	Present Allan	Present Griffith	Present Swarbrick	Present van Velden	Not invited	Not invited	Not invited	Not invited
30 September	From 19:30	Newshub	Leaders' debate	Present Collins	Present Ardern	Not invited	Not invited	Not invited	Not invited	Not invited	Not invited	Not invited
3 October (filmed 1 October)	From 09:30	Newshub Nation	Minor parties	Not invited	Not invited	Present Peters	Present Davidson	Present Seymour	Not invited	Present Tamihere	Not invited	Not invited
6 October	From 19:00	Māori Television	Multi-party debate in the Māori language	Absent	Present Henare	Present Jones	Present Tuiono	Absent	Not invited	Present Waititi	Not invited	Present Wilcox
6 October	From 19:00	Stuff	Leaders' debate	Present Collins	Present Ardern	Not invited	Not invited	Not invited	Not invited	Not invited	Not invited	Not invited
8 October	From 19:00	TVNZ	Multi-party debate	Absent	Absent	Present Peters	Present Shaw	Present Seymour	Present Ross	Present Tamihere	Not invited	Not invited
15 October	From 19:00	TVNZ	Leaders' debate	Present Collins	Present Ardern	Not invited	Not invited	Not invited	Not invited	Not invited	Not invited	Not invited

Opinion polls

Main article: Opinion polling for the 2020 New Zealand general election

Various organisations have commissioned opinion polling for the next general election. Two main polling organisations are currently regularly sampling the electorates' opinions: Reid Research (on behalf of MediaWorks New Zealand) and Colmar Brunton (on behalf of Television New Zealand). Roy Morgan Research released a series of polls in June 2020, covering the first five months of the year, and have subsequently released monthly polls. These are their first opinion polls in New Zealand since November 2017.

Graphical summary of polls recently conducted for the 2020 New Zealand general election.

Seat projections

The use of mixed-member proportional representation allows ready conversion of a party's support into a party vote percentage and therefore a number of seats in Parliament. Projections assume the new electorate of Takanini will be won by either Labour or National and that Botany will be returned to National, but otherwise assume no material change to the electorate seats held by each party. Parties that do not hold an electorate seat and poll below 5% are assumed to win zero seats.

When determining the scenarios for the overall result, the minimum parties necessary to form majority governments are listed (provided parties have indicated openness to working together). Actual governments formed may include other parties beyond the minimum required for a majority; this happened after the 2014 election, when National only needed one seat from another party to reach a 61-seat majority, but instead chose to form a 64-seat government with Māori, ACT and United Future.

Source	Seats in Parliament							Likely government formation(s)
	NAT	LAB	NZF	GRN	ACT	MRI	Total
Roy Morgan Sep 2020 poll	38	61	0	12	9	0	120	Labour (61)
1 News–Colmar Brunton 10–14 Oct 2020 poll	40	59	0	11	10	0	120	Labour–Green (70)
Newshub–Reid Research 8–15 Oct 2020 poll	41	61	0	8	10	0	120	Labour (61)
2020 result	33	65	0	10	10	2	120	Labour (65)

Voting

EasyVote packs were sent to voters starting on 28 September 2020. These packs contain the voter's personalised EasyVote card, which is used by polling booth staff to help identify and locate the voter on the electoral roll. It also included flyers on the voting process and two referendums. On 5 October 2020, The Spinoff reported that four EasyVote packs in Northland allegedly contained a flyer from Votesafe, a third-party promoter opposing the End of Life Choice Act. Votesafe confirmed its flyers were printed at the same facility as the Electoral Commission's flyers, and both Votesafe and the Electoral Commission were investigating.

Advance voting began on 3 October at 450 polling locations, increasing to 2,600 locations on election day, 17 October. The Electoral Commission estimated that 60% of votes would occur during the advance voting period, up from 47% in 2017. On 12 October, the number of advance votes cast passed the 1,240,740 advance votes cast overall at the 2017 election. Overall, 1,976,996 advance votes were been cast, which is 56.7% of all enrolled voters.

Voters on the Māori roll faced issues with receiving Māori electorate ballots due to high demand during advance voting, leading to some people having to cast special votes instead.

On 5 October, an error was discovered on Port Waikato electorate ballot papers, where there was no circle to tick next to Vision NZ on the party vote ballot. The Electoral Commission subsequently reprinted the ballot papers. Provided the voter's intention is clear, a tick or other mark placed outside the circle will still be counted as a valid vote.

The Electoral Commission referred two people to Police after they claimed to have voted multiple times, one on 5 October and another on 14 October.

Results

Main article: Results of the 2020 New Zealand general election

Map of party votes in each electorate. Labour won the most party votes in 68 of the 72 electorates.

Preliminary results were gradually released after polling booths close at 19:00 (NZDT) on 17 October. The preliminary count only includes advance ordinary and election day ordinary votes; it does not include any special votes, which have a deadline ten days later (27 October). Special votes include votes from those who enrolled after the deadline of 13 September, those who voted outside their electorate (including all overseas votes), voters in hospital or prison, and those voters enrolled on the unpublished roll. Referendum votes will be counted after election day, with preliminary results released on 30 October.

All voting papers, counterfoils and electoral rolls are returned to the electorate's returning officer for a mandatory recount; this also includes approving and counting any special votes, and compiling a master roll to ensure no voter has voted more than once. To simplify processing and counting, overseas votes will be sent to and counted at the Electoral Commission's central processing centre in Wellington, rather than to electorate returning officers. Official results, including all recounted ordinary votes and special votes, as well as the official results of the two referendums, are expected to be released by the Electoral Commission on 6 November 2020.

Parties and candidates have three working days after the release of the official results to apply for a judicial recount. These recounts take place under the auspices of a District Court judge (the Chief District Court Judge in case of a nationwide recount), and may delay the return of the election writ by a few days.

By the time almost 100% of ordinary votes were counted, the Labour Party was indicated to win a majority with 64 seats in the party's biggest victory in 50 years. The Labour Party's 49.1% vote share in this election is the third highest throughout its 104-year history, only surpassed by its election victories in 1938 (55.8%) and 1946 (51.3%). It is the first time under the current mixed-member proportional representation (MMP) electoral system that a party has won an outright majority (64 seats) of parliamentary seats to govern alone. The National Party obtained 26.8% of the popular vote and 35 seats in Parliament, which represented its worst result since 2002 (where it obtained 21% of the popular vote), its second worst historical result and one of the worst ever election defeats in its party’s history since the party’s founding in 1936. National's leader Collins conceded the election just after 10pm on election night, but said in her concession speech that "[National] will be back".

The results of the "COVID-19 election" led to the flipping of many traditionally "blue" National-voting provincial seats, with often more than comfortable margins. Examples were Wairarapa, East Coast, Ōtaki, and Rangitata, the latter having never previously voted for Labour. In another devastating blow to National's heartlands, every city except Whangārei, Auckland (including the Hibiscus Coast), Tauranga, Rotorua and Invercargill gave their seats entirely to Labour. Victims of National seat losses were National deputy leader Gerry Brownlee, who had held Ilam for its entire existence; Chris Bishop, considered a rising star, who unexpectedly flipped Hutt South for National in 2017; and Father of the House Nick Smith, member for Nelson since 1990.

In a surprise victory, popular MP Chlöe Swarbrick won the Auckland Central electoral seat vacated by National's retiring Nikki Kaye, with a margin of 492 votes over Labour's Helen White, thus winning for the Green Party an electoral seat for the first time since 1999. Swarbrick’s victory was notable as she garned 3,923 more votes within the same electorate than her own Green Party, a prime example of voters being engaged in split-ticket voting; however, it was highly unique as numerous voters who support a major party also voted to elect an individual MP from a minor party.

The 2020 general election saw the election of New Zealand's first African MP (Ibrahim Omer), first Sri Lankan MP (Vanushi Walters) and first Latin American MP (Ricardo Menéndez March). Six new LGBT+ MPs were elected (Menéndez March, Glen Bennett, Ayesha Verrall, Shanan Halbert, Elizabeth Kerekere, Tangi Utikere), making the New Zealand House of Representatives the national parliament with the highest percentage of LGBT+ members in the world.

Electorate results

See also: Candidates in the 2020 New Zealand general election by electorate

List results

Main article: Party lists in the 2020 New Zealand general election

Labour	National	ACT	Green
bgcolor="Template:New Zealand Labour Party/meta/color" |	bgcolor="Template:New Zealand National Party/meta/color" |	bgcolor="Template:ACT New Zealand/meta/color" |	bgcolor="Template:Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand/meta/color" |
Andrew Little (07) David Parker (09) Trevor Mallard (11) Kris Faafoi (15) Ayesha Verrall (17) Willie Jackson (19) Louisa Wall (27) Camilla Belich (30) Priyanca Radhakrishnan (31) Jan Tinetti (32) Marja Lubeck (34) Angie Warren-Clark (35) Willow-Jean Prime (36) Tāmati Coffey (37) Naisi Chen (38) Liz Craig (41) Ibrahim Omer (42) Anahila Kanongata'a-Suisuiki (44) Rachel Brooking (46) Helen White (48) Angela Roberts (50)	Gerry Brownlee (02) Paul Goldsmith (03) Chris Bishop (07) David Bennett (11) Michael Woodhouse (12) Nicola Willis (13) Melissa Lee (16) Nick Smith (18) Maureen Pugh (19)	Brooke van Velden (02) Nicole McKee (03) Chris Baillie (04) Simon Court (05) James McDowall (06) Karen Chhour (07) Mark Cameron (08) Toni Severin (09) Damien Smith (10)	Marama Davidson (01) James Shaw (02) Julie Anne Genter (04) Jan Logie (05) Eugenie Sage (06) Golriz Ghahraman (07) Teanau Tuiono (08) Elizabeth Kerekere (09) Ricardo Menéndez March (10)

See also

• Elections in New Zealand

External links

• Electoral Commission website
• Official election results website