Nearly 400,000 special votes await a count expected to take three weeks
New Zealanders will wait weeks to learn who will lead the country after Saturday’s election produced no outright majority for either the left or the right, leaving negotiations over a one-seat governing margin as the only apparent route to power for either side.
On provisional election-night results, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon’s conservative bloc stood at 67 of Parliament’s 131 seats, one above the 66-seat majority threshold. The count remained provisional because the total number of lawmakers can change under Parliament’s seat-allocation rules, and nearly 400,000 special votes had yet to be counted. Those ballots included votes from New Zealanders living abroad, and electoral officials were due Sunday to begin a process expected to take three weeks.
Parties would not begin government negotiations until final tallies were released Nov. 27, confirming the exact number of seats each had won. Other winners were harder to identify, and “who won the election 2026” was the top trending Google search in New Zealand on Sunday. The Associated Press described the vote as the tightest in years and said center-right National and center-left Labour, led by Chris Hipkins, had long dominated New Zealand politics.
With 2.8 million ballots counted on election night, the conservative incumbent government led by Luxon’s National party appeared close to the slimmest possible return to power — by just one seat. Luxon did not claim victory on Saturday night, instead expressing cautious optimism that he could negotiate a second term in power. The current numbers gave his bloc the more direct route to retaining power, though the results could change before the final tally. The Associated Press said the razor-thin margin was likely to make it difficult for Luxon to manage a three-way government with two emboldened minor parties.
The left bloc held 57 seats before the historically left-leaning special votes were counted. The report said the left remained hopeful, though its prospects were more remote. Special votes have historically given left-wing parties an additional seat or two in Parliament; that could remove the conservative bloc’s one-seat majority, although the left would likely still be short of its own majority. Even a small final increase for the left would apparently leave Labour leader Chris Hipkins needing support from newcomer Qiulae Wong to govern. If no government could be formed, New Zealand could face a fresh election.
Luxon will lead a caretaker government until an outcome is reached. “I think everyone’s over politics so let’s all have a bit of a break for the next three weeks,” he told reporters on Sunday. He suggested National had a viable path to power and said it had secured more seats in Parliament than any other group. He said global shocks that had buffeted New Zealand’s trade-based economy were driving public dissatisfaction, while noting that incumbent governments elsewhere had faced voter discontent over living costs.
The Associated Press said voters appeared weary of New Zealand’s economic woes and apathetic toward both Luxon and Hipkins, and that they chose to propel a new entrant group to Parliament for the first time in years. Opportunity is unaligned with either bloc and is led by 38-year-old business consultant and political newcomer Qiulae Wong, who has said she could work with either side to form a government. The Associated Press reported that Wong’s pledges of evidence-based centrism and an end to partisan bickering had helped secure seven seats for Opportunity on Saturday’s results — enough to frustrate both the left and the right in a simple path to power. The party had made three failed attempts at Parliament before Wong became its leader less than a year ago.
On numbers available Sunday, Prime Minister Christopher Luxon’s center-right National won 29.21% of the preferred party vote, a steep decline from its previous result, and secured its 42 seats entirely by winning local constituency races. Center-left Labour, led by Chris Hipkins, won 29.36%, about the same party-vote share, but secured only 36 seats because it won fewer local races. Hipkins did not appear to benefit from Saturday’s result, which appeared to suggest a second election defeat for the career politician. He had been voted out of office in 2023 largely over discontent about the same economic issues. Neither major party held an outright majority on the provisional seat totals.
The Associated Press said voters had given more support than before to minor parties on the ideological flanks. On the left, the environmentally focused Greens won 16 seats and Indigenous rights group Te Pāti Māori won five. The report said minor parties could use their bargaining position to seek deeper policy concessions from a weakened National or Labour.
National’s traditional governing partners also won increased support, and Luxon faced a list of policy demands to secure their backing. The report described ACT as libertarian and New Zealand First as populist. ACT won 13 seats and New Zealand First won 12; both parties were led by veteran politicians. Detractors of Luxon, a former business executive who entered politics in 2020, said his dealings with them in the three years since he took office had highlighted his political inexperience.
Several of National’s most senior lawmakers would exit politics on the results so far, including the ministers of finance and defense, the speaker of Parliament and the attorney general. Luxon faced two separate confidence votes among his own lawmakers this year, and his popularity as leader declined close to election day.
Before the election, Luxon repeatedly ruled out negotiating with Wong. On Sunday, he did not answer questions about whether his one-seat lead had changed his mind.
New Zealanders do not vote directly for a prime minister. They cast two votes: one for their preferred party and another for the candidate they want as their local representative. The country has one house of Parliament and no states, so the central government holds ultimate sway over New Zealand’s direction. Governments in the South Pacific nation of 5.6 million people are elected every three years.