New Zealand Votes on November 7: Polls Too Close to Call as Early Voting Passes 1.25 Million
New Zealand holds its general election on Saturday, November 7. Polls released this week show Prime Minister Christopher Luxon's National-led coalition and the Labour bloc led by Chris Hipkins in a contest too close to call; the final 1News–Verian poll put National on 30 percent and Labour on 29 percent, with the governing coalition three seats short of a parliamentary majority and the centrist Opportunity Party positioned as a potential kingmaker.
Figures from the Electoral Commission show early voting, which began on October 26, had reached 1,250,057 votes by Tuesday, up from 1,007,928 at the same point in 2023. Campaigning in Hawke's Bay on November 5, Luxon said the election would likely go down to the wire and urged supporters to give National another three years; Hipkins said Labour hoped to form a Labour-led government before Christmas.
Luxon is seeking a second term after surviving two confidence votes by National MPs in the past year. Commentators expect forming a government could take weeks as support grows for smaller parties, in an election that is largely a verdict on the government's handling of a weak economy.
Source: Electoral Commission, New Zealand
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：惠灵顿国会蜂巢大楼。Michal Klajban 摄，Wikimedia Commons，CC BY-SA 4.0。 / Photo: The Beehive in Wellington. Photo by Michal Klajban, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0.
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